tihvavy  of 'the  t:heoloc{ical  ^^mimvy 

PRINCETON  ■  NEW  JERSEY 


FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 
REVEREND  JESSE  HALSEY,  D.D. 

BV  15  .C55  1912 

Clark,  Lucius  Charles,  1869- 

The  worshiping  congregation 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGRE 
GATION 


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^^^P        |P"W""*|J 

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THE  WORSHIPING 
CONGREGATION 


Vy 


By        /' 
THE  REV.  LUCIUS  C.  CLARK,  D.  D. 


t 


Cincinnati:  Jennings  and  Graham 
New  York:   Eaton  and   Mains 


Copyright,  1912,  by 
Jennings  and  Gbaham. 


^shxczdBh 


TO    THE    DEVOUT   WORSHIPERS   IN   THE 
CHURCHES   OF   EVERT   NAME. 


PREFACE 

THE  writer  has  looked  with  some 
diligence  for  a  book  that  would 
attempt  an  answer  to  some  of  the 
practical  inquiries  which  arise  from  our 
common  Church  worship.     The  Protes- 
tant minister  will  find  but  little  help  m 
his  attempt  to  become  effective  in  the 
service  of  worship  other  than  that  which 
has  to  do  with  the  sermon.     Books  on 
pastoral  theology  have  not  attempted  our 
task,  for  they  have  largely  to  do  with 
the  minister  as  a  preacher.     To  either 
supply  the  deficiency,  or  make  it  more 
apparent,    we   have   undertaken   a   con- 
sideration of  some  of  the  topics  hitherto 
neglected.     There  are  items  of  worship 
that  have  to  do  with  the  effectiveness 
of  our  Church  life   and  are  recognized 
as  vital  to  it,  and  yet  these  things  have 
been  mentioned  in  some  notable  books 
as  the  "Humble  details  of  the  pastoral 
method."    Careful  search  in  the  libraries 
7 


PREFACE 

of  several  theological  schools  makes  it 
the  more  apparent  that  these  "humble 
details"  are  largely  ignored. 

The  pastoral  method,  from  the  view- 
point of  the  congregation,  has  received 
but  scant  recognition.  Nearly  all  that 
has  to  do  with  our  worship  is  considered 
from  the  viewpoint  of  the  minister  rather 
than  that  of  the  congregation.  If  we 
can  put  our  attention  to  the  topic  of  the 
minister  as  a  worshiper,  rather  than  the 
minister  as  a  preacher,  we  will  have  ac- 
complished part  of  our  purpose.  The 
greater  aim  is  to  bring  a  message  for  the 
general  worshiper  by  a  discussion  of  his 
worship.  The  fundamentals  of  worship 
have  as  much  to  do  with,  and  are  as  de- 
pendent upon,  the  man  in  the  pew  as 
the  man  in  the  pulpit.  The  elements  of 
weakness  that  have  taken  hold  of  our 
Christian  life  because  they  are  tolerated 
in  our  worship  should  be  reckoned  with. 
Christian  worship  in  every  community 
of  America  is  not  at  its  best  because  we 
will  not  see  that  details  of  worth  can  not 
8 


PREFACE 

be  omitted  and  those  items  that  work 
us  ill  are  admitted. 

If  the  scientist  can  make  progress  by 
sitting  down  and  simply  watching  what 
and  how  nature  is  at  work,  so  we  can 
make  progress  in  the  kingdom  of  grace 
if  we  will  sit  watchfully  for  a  time  to  see 
how  grace  works.  No  man  introduces  a 
new  item  into  the  world  of  nature,  but 
rather  appreciates  what  he  finds  already 
there,  so  we  can  not  and  have  no  desire 
that  any  new  item  shall  be  introduced 
into  this  kingdom  of  grace.  As  devout 
worshipers  we  would  rather  come  to 
an  appreciation  of  that  we  already 
have. 

In  the  order  and  conduct  of  the  most 
sacred  work  of  public  worship  every  man 
is  left  practically  to  be  his  own  master. 
If  there  be  virtue  in  trying  the  untried 
we  have  reason  to  hope  for  great  gain,  for 
every  new  and  novel  thing  known  to  the 
ecclesiastical  innovator  has  been  tried 
out  as  an  item  of  worship.  The  beauty 
of  no  man's  theory  can  make  up  for  the 
9 


PREFACE 

divinely  ordained  elements  that  make  for 
Christian  progress. 

If  we  can  vitalize  the  details,  so  often 
treated  as  of  little  worth,  by  bringing 
them  in  contact  with  a  living,  worshiping 
congregation,  our  purpose  will  have  been 
accomplished.  We  can  claim  little  more 
for  these  pages  than  that  they  have  in 
some  way  been  connected  with  life. 
There  is  either  an  individual,  a  congre- 
gation, or  a  Church  back  of  every  ques- 
tion, or  standing  out  trying  to  make 
some  answer. 


10 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Worship  and  the  Christian  Life,  -  -       15 

Worship  and  Church  Attendance,     -  35 

Worship  and  Punctuality,     -        -  -      51 

Worship  and  the  Service  of  Praise,  61 

Worship  and  the  Use  of  the  Bible,  -       91 

Worship  and  the  Collection,     -         -  99 

Worship  and  Church  Architecture,  -     113 

Worship  and  Sociability,    -         -         -  139 

Worship  and  the  Minister,    -         -  -     151 

Worship  and  Keeping  Special  Days,-  165 

Worship  and  the  Order  of  Service,  -     185 


11 


WORSHIP   AND   THE    CHRISTIAN 
LIFE 


CHRISTIAN  worship  is  an  art.  It 
is  not  only  in  the  category  to 
which  the  fine  arts  belong,  but 
it  is  the  very  queen  of  art.  The  impres- 
sions of  genius  on  canvas  or  marble  may 
suggest  priceless  worth  and  imperishable 
fame — the  worshiper,  as  a  soul  impres- 
sionist, has  to  do  with  unhmited  being.  It 
is  an  art  that  is  priceless  and  as  imper- 
ishable as  the  immortal. 

To  ''worship  the  Lord  in  the  beauty 
of  holiness"  is  not  the  small  task  some 
indifferent  Christians  would  make  it. 
The  "beauty  of  holiness"  and  an  un- 
thoughtf ul  worship  can  never  be  harmon- 
ized. To  boast  ourselves  of  our  informali- 
ties in  the  Churches  is  little  more  than 
taking  pride  in  our  incivilities.  A  mean- 
ing of  Christian  worship  should  be  the 
pleasing  and  honoring  of  God  rather  than 
showing  favor  and  conciliating  men. 
Browning  expresses  the  aspiration  of  a 
Christian  in  worship  by  saying  for  us, 
''Ah,  but  a  man's  reach  should  exceed 
15 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

his  grasp,  or  what 's  a  Heaven  for?"  Man 
has  always  longed  for  an  approach  to 
God.  Man's  path  in  his  ascent  to  God 
has  never  been  quite  plain,  and  often 
has  he  stumbled  into  the  presence  of  his 
Maker.  The  Prophet  Amos  lets  the  in- 
dignation of  his  own  nature  interpret 
God's  thought  of  certain  worship  the 
people  were  wont  to  give.  "I  hate,  I 
despise  your  feasts,  and  I  will  take  no 
delight  in  your  solemn  assemblies.  Yea, 
though  ye  offer  me  your  burnt  offerings 
and  meat  offerings,  I  will  not  accept 
them:  neither  will  I  regard  the  peace 
offerings  of  your  fat  beasts.  Take  thou 
away  from  me  the  noise  of  thy  songs, 
for  I  will  not  hear  the  melody  of  thy 
viols."  The  temple  worship  was  full  of 
the  majesty  and  mystery  of  worship,  but 
quite  unlike  the  Lord  of  the  Temple. 
Jesus  gave  but  few  general  principles 
in  connection  with  worship.  His  message 
was  not  given  to  enlighten  a  committee 
on  Church  liturgy,  but  to  a  lone  woman 
with  an  entirely  mistaken  idea  of  worship. 
16 


THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 

*'The  woman  saitli  unto  Him^  Sir,  I 
perceive  that  Thou  art  a  prophet.  Our 
fathers  worshiped  in  this  mountain;  and. 
Ye  say,  that  in  Jerusalem  is  the  place 
where  men  ought  to  worship.  Jesus 
saith  unto  her.  Woman,  believe  Me,  the 
hour  Cometh  when  neither  in  this  moun- 
tain, nor  in  Jerusalem,  shall  ye  worship 
the  Father.  Ye  worship  that  which  ye 
know  not:  we  worship  that  which  we 
know:  for  salvation  is  from  the  Jews. 
But  the  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when 
the  true  worshipers  shall  worship  the 
Father  in  spirit  and  truth:  for  such  doth 
the  Father  seek  to  be  His  worshipers. 
God  is  a  Spirit:  and  they  that  worship 
Him  must  worship  in  spirit  and  truth." 
It  would  have  saved  many  questions  had 
Jesus  given  a  set  program  of  worship. 
He  has  left  "in  spirit  and  truth"  as  the 
guide,  and  the  details  are  to  be  deter- 
mined by  His  followers.  Indefiniteness 
of  order  is  not  to  be  attributed  to  any 
indifference  of  Jesus.  The  details  of  our 
religious  life  are  left  to  the  development 
2  17 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

of   those   who   have   the   spirit   of    the 
Master  and  seek  to  know  His  truth. 

The  Church  largely  stands  before  the 
world  conceived  as  worship.  It  is  the 
soul's  language  in  aspiration.  It  is  a 
divinely  ordered,  and  experience  tested, 
essential  in  maintaining  the  purity  of 
the  Christian  religion.  It  is  God's  one 
universal  appeal  to  the  world.  It  is  the 
life  functions  of  the  body  of  Christ — the 
Church.  Ministers,  members  of  the 
Churches,  and  the  world-at-large  have  a 
struggle  for  a  spiritual  culture  as  if  it 
were  none  of  their  business.  In  the  midst 
of  all  this  indifference  is  set  the  worship 
of  God,  which  comes  as  a  holy  call  to 
man.  It  is  not  only  concerned  with  the 
soul  culture  of  the  professedly  Christian 
man,  but  the  acts  of  worship  devoutly 
participated  in  have  a  strong  influence 
on  the  unconverted.  Worship  should  be 
conceived  of  as  evangelistic  as  well  as 
cultural.  Thousands  sing  the  praise  of 
God  with  a  worshiping  congregation  until, 
in  a  good  time,  they  catch  the  meaning  of 
18 


THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 

it  all.  Many  will  offer  a  prayer  to  God 
with  a  praying  congregation  that  brings 
the  fulfillment  of  the  promise,  ''Thy 
Father,  which  seeth  in  secret,  shall  re- 
ward thee  openly."  The  greater  portion 
of  the  wealth  of  Christian  character  in 
the  Kingdom  of  God  has  come  from  the 
effects  of  the  regular  worshiping  congre- 
gation. It  would  indicate  a  foolish  min- 
ister and  an  unthinking  congregation  if 
they  were  not  to  think  much  and  make 
the  most  of  this  divinely  ordained  means 
for  the  salvation  of  the  world.  Man  does 
not  seem  to  get  on  with  his  worship 
without  some  form  or  order.  This  will 
be  either  beautiful  or  ugly,  dependent 
upon  the  intelligence  and  the  Christian 
devotion  of  the  worshiper. 

In  the  relationship  of  worship  to  the 
Christian  life  it  is  necessary  to  acknowl- 
edge concerning  them  certain  conditions 
which  are  apparent.  The  one  or,  at 
most,  the  two  public  services  of  worship 
are  making  the  entire  religious  exercise 
for  an  increasingly  large  number  of  Chris- 
19 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

tian  people.  Home  worship,  however 
much  it  may  be  lamented,  is  so  generally 
neglected  that  the  number  of  homes 
where  a  family  altar  is  sustained  is  quite 
insignificant  in  proportion  to  the  mem- 
bership of  the  Churches.  It  would  not 
be  easy  to  disprove  that  one-half  of  the 
entire  membership  of  the  Churches  of 
America  are  dependent  upon  one  public 
service  of  worship  for  the  week.  Again, 
this  service,  which  is  under  the  mighty 
compulsion  of  ministering  to  the  spir- 
itual needs  of  the  multitude  of  believers, 
is  being  constantly  restricted  as  to  time. 
The  maximum  limit  of  time  would  be 
placed  at  one  hour  and  thirty  minutes. 
The  average  minister  is  not  expected  to 
take  of  this  time  to  exceed  thirty  min- 
utes for  the  sermon.  The  remaining 
portion,  if  used  in  the  best  possible  man- 
ner, is  only  given  a  small  chance  to  ac- 
complish the  ends  of  worship.  The  time 
is  only  too  short  if  we  compel  ourselves 
to  reckon  the  service  as  beginning  with 
the  entrance  of  the  first  worshiper,  and 
20 


THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 

only  concluding  on  the  closing  of  the 
doors  of  the  temple  as  the  caretaker 
leaves  the  place  of  worship.  There  is 
neither  a  moment  to  be  lost  nor  an  item 
of  worship  to  be  neglected  during  the 
interval  above  specified.  The  poets' 
pagan  is  not  a  greatly  overdrawn  sketch 
of  many  a  worshiper  to-day: 

"An'  I  hallus  corned  to 's  choorch  afoor  my 
Sally  wur  dead, 

An'  'eerd  un  a  bummin'  awaay  loike  a  buzzard- 
clock  ower  my  zead, 

An'  I  niver  knaw'd  what  a  mean'd,  but  I 
thowt  a 'ad  summit  to  saay. 

An'  I  thowt  a  said  what  a  owt  to  'a  said,  an 
I  corned  awaay." 

Tennyson's  "Northern  Farmer"  may  ex- 
press an  ignorant  notion  concerning  wor- 
ship, but  it  is  no  worse  than  an  informed 
but  persistent  neglect.  To  many  it  is 
a  parson's  service,  and  when  he  has  had 
his  say  they  come  away. 

Our  fear  for  the  worship  of  the  future  is 
not  so  much  that  men  will  set  themselves 
21 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

the  task  to  do  evil  to  the  faith  by  an  insist- 
ence upon  certain  forms  or  ceremonies, 
as  that  we  shall  follow  to  our  own  hurt 
inventions  of  men  that  have  not  the 
sanction  of  truth  or  the  Spirit  of  God. 
An  important  consideration  for  the 
Churches  of  America  is  whether  in  the 
future  they  can  trust  the  empirical  fancies 
of  individuals,  or  even  local  Churches, 
for  a  helpful  order  of  Christian  worship. 
The  development  of  both  form  and  spirit 
in  Church  worship  has  too  long  been  left 
with  the  indiscriminating  and  unpre- 
pared. Almost  every  kind  of  message, 
messenger,  and  manner  has  been  intro- 
duced into  our  Churches,  and  success 
upon  these  has  been  pronounced,  pro- 
viding only  that  the  means  used  have 
drawn  a  crowd  and  brought  a  collection. 
The  question  of  our  material  age  is  not 
so  much.  Is  it  worship?  but.  Will  it  work.^ 
Musicales,  impersonations,  concerts,  lec- 
tures, stereopticon  exhibitions,  popular 
sermons  on  topics  of  the  hour,  discussion 
of  politics,  and  many  other  familiar  fea- 
22 


THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 

tures  are  used  on  Sunday  in  the  hour  of 
public  worship.  That  each  of  these  fea- 
tures may  be  made  to  contribute  to 
worship  is  undoubted,  but  he  who  pre- 
sumes to  use  them  will  find  his  own  need 
of  devotion  all  the  more  apparent.  The 
Church  that  would  specialize  in  features 
of  worship  must  all  the  more  spiritualize 
her  forces  in  worship.  A  hymn  book  is 
not  the  only  receptacle  of  praise.  Much 
of  the  great  music  of  the  world  which 
has  been  made  as  a  contribution  to  the 
Christian  thought  and  feeling  of  the 
Church  has  been  lost  for  want  of  a  culti- 
vated appreciation  on  the  part  of  believ- 
ers. A  special  service  of  praise  that  is 
devotional  in  itself  and  leads  a  congre- 
gation to  an  appreciation  of  the  best  of 
sacred  music  will  be  a  contributing  factor 
to  their  spirituality.  If,  however,  these 
specials  are  used  with  a  view  to  fill  a 
depleted  Church  treasury,  or  empty  pews, 
which  should  be  occupied  by  a  Church 
membership,  both  of  which  will  be  as 
empty  again  when  the  specials  are  not 
23 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

in  use,  then  an  entirely  different  appeal 
should  be  made  than  these  can  furnish. 
To  interest  a  non-Church-going  public, 
or  win  a  way  into  the  thought  of  a  people 
for  a  needed  cause,  any  of  the  special 
services  may  be  held  and  have,  perhaps, 
as  legitimate  a  place  as  an  evangelistic 
service.  If  the  evangelistic  service  in 
its  informal  approach  is  not  to  be  counted 
as  the  most  serviceable  as  a  regular  serv- 
ice of  worship,  much  less  shall  these 
others,  with  a  lesser  motive,  have  a 
large  place  in  the  worship  of  our  Chris- 
tian congregations.  If  the  minister  is  to 
be  judged  as  a  promoter  of  popular  re- 
ligion, or  if  a  Church  is  to  be  reckoned 
for  its  popularity  without  regard  to  piety, 
then  we  need  not  be  particular  by  what 
means  we  reach  the  coveted  goal. 

The  public  worship  of  the  Churches 
needs  to  be  vitalized.  This  will  be  done 
by  a  vital  message  from  the  lips  and  life 
of  a  i*eal  messenger  of  the  Lord,  if  con- 
nected with,  and  supported  by,  as  real 
and  living  a  Church.     Whatever  helps 


THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 

create  the  desired  spiritual  atmosphere 
is  not  to  be  despised  by  the  student  of 
religious  progress.  There  is  no  apology 
to  offer  for  a  lifeless  formality,  a  slovenly 
neglect,  or  an  indifferent  appreciation  for 
any  part  of  Christian  worship.  The 
simplicity  of  a  service  is  never  to  be  con- 
sidered a  deterrent  to  devotion.  The 
country  Church  may  have  every  element 
of  real  worship  if  her  participants  have 
the  "spirit  and  truth"  of  worship.  Sim- 
plicity associated  with  lifelessness  and 
lack  of  a  devotional  spirit  is  worse  than 
simplicity  combined  with  formalism.  The 
former  convicts  of  laziness,  carelessness, 
or  ignorance,  or  even  all  of  these,  while 
the  latter — formalism — if  based  upon  a 
ritual,  brings  some  offering  of  worth  if 
it  is  the  contribution  of  those  of  other 
days.  The  vitalizing  of  the  service  of 
prayer  is  ever  open  for  thoughtful  con- 
sideration of  both  minister  and  congre- 
gation. It  is  not  a  question  of  the  use 
or  non-use  of  a  printed  prayer  or  a  formal 
manual  of  devotion.  A  lifeless  service 
25 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

can  be  found  with  either,  and  helpful 
services  are  found  with  both.  The  min- 
ister who  has  no  fear  that  the  liberty  of 
his  proclamation  shall  be  curtailed  be- 
cause he  reads  the  sermonic  literature  of 
the  world  need  have  no  fear  for  any 
impediment  in  prayer  if  he  read  and  fill 
his  mind  with  the  prayer  literature  of 
the  world.  What  a  multitude  of  public 
prayers  need  is  a  revivifying  of  the  mind 
as  well  as  purifying  of  the  heart  of  the 
worshiper.  To  listen  to  the  prayers  in 
social  service  offered  by  devout  men  and 
women,  and  note  the  limitations  of  both 
desire  and  expression,  will  cause  one  to 
wish  they  too  might  get  a  wider  horizon 
of  aspiration  and  a  larger  facility  of  ex- 
pression. All  worship  is  so  near  the 
supernatural  at  all  times,  but  so  con- 
tingent upon  the  natural,  that  it  becomes 
the  most  precarious  as  well  as  the  most 
precious  of  our  religious  functions. 

The  duties,  privileges,  and  expressions 
of  Christian  worship  are  in  all  Protestant 
communions    fundamentally    the    same. 
26 


THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 

We  have  a  musical  service  by  the  choir 
and  the  congregation,  prayer,  reading 
from  the  Bible,  the  recital  of  a  creed,  a 
sermon,  an  offering,  the  celebration  of 
baptism  or  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  re- 
ception into  Church  membership.  This 
would  quite  make  up  the  list  of  items  of 
worship,  and  for  the  lifetime  of  a  believer 
these  acts  in  various  forms  and  mani- 
festations will  make  up  his  worship. 
Where  vocal  expression  is  used  it  is  largely 
in  some  form  of  sacred  words.  It  must 
become  apparent  at  once  that  ethical 
and  spiritual  effectiveness  is  dependent 
upon  the  truth  and  expression  of  these 
sacred  words.  They  must  be  carefully 
chosen  if  moral  motives  and  spiritual  de- 
sires are  to  be  inculcated  into  the  lives 
of  the  worshipers.  It  is  not  our  task  to 
discuss  in  this  connection  the  use  or 
abuse  of  a  ritual.  The  people  for  whom 
this  is  written  have  settled  the  question 
that  there  is  to  be  no  clearly  prescribed 
ritual  that  would  in  any  large  way  curtail 
the  liberties  of  individual  expression. 
27 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

The  tendency  is  for  form  to  outlive  the 
faith  that  gave  it  birth.  Too  often  the 
form  is  held  after  the  spirit  has  departed 
from  it.  The  Christian  worship  seeks  to 
emphasize  a  simplicity  of  expression  that 
may  be  adjusted  to  the  recurring  new 
life  in  the  believers.  It  is  the  fundamental 
value  Christianity  attaches  to  the  inward 
experience  over  the  outward  acts.  This 
very  emphasis  of  the  non  -  liturgical 
Churches  makes  their  task  the  harder, 
for  they  must  seek  such  experience  as 
shall  constantly  satisfy  the  soul  life  of 
the  believer,  and  with  this  such  new  made 
expression  as  shall  commend  the  experi- 
ence to  others.  If  there  is  value  in  the 
experience  it  must  have  communicative 
value  in  order  to  be  of  effect  in  an  act 
of  worship.  It  is  this  very  communicative 
value  of  experience  that  is  fundamental 
to  true  worship.  When  Christianity  took 
hold  of  the  heart  of  the  world  it  brought 
its  new  thoughts,  beliefs,  and  emotions, 
and  there  were  no  rites  or  forms  to  con- 
tain them.  In  the  ritual  worship  of  the 
28 


THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 

Temple  there  was  little  chance  for  the 
expression  of  the  new  thought  of  God  as 
Father,  Christ  as  a  Savior,  the  Hfe  in  the 
Spirit,  a  risen  Lord  or  freedom  from  sin. 
The  disciples  had  a  sense  of  the  attending 
experience  of  this  knowledge,  but  a  large 
task  was  theirs  when  they  attempted 
to  communicate  this  experience.  The 
heathen  world  thought  the  Christian  had 
no  form  of  worship  at  all.  He  did  not 
have,  in  the  older  sense  of  worship  by 
processions,  sacrifices,  and  liturgies.  The 
method  of  approach  was  now  by  praise 
and  prayer  and  preaching.  The  sum  of 
their  individual  experiences  and  their 
willingness  of  expression  constitutes  the 
glory  of  the  early  Church.  A  Christian 
may  be  selfish  in  his  worship.  He  may 
have  only  in  mind  the  experience  that 
shall  bring  self-gratification.  If  he  neg- 
lects the  expression  of  that  experience  he 
does  not  enter  into  the  largest  measure 
of  worship  at  all.  Exception  is  some- 
times taken  to  the  use  of  our  common 
phrases  for  worship,  such  as  "Church 
29 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

service"  or  "religious  services"  or  "divine 
service,"  on  the  ground  that  it  is  not  a 
service  we  are  giving,  but  rather  it  is  an 
act  of  receiving.  Do  not  our  acts  of 
service  in  worship  create  in  us  such  dis- 
positions as  make  it  possible  for  God  to 
give  to  us?  Co-operative  thinking  works 
for  the  general  good  of  an  audience. 
Grasping  after  spiritual  truth  in  a  con- 
gregation will  help  fix  the  truth  if  it  is 
made  clear.  One  worshiper  recognizing 
the  presence  of  God  helps,  even  uncon- 
sciously, another  to  a  like  recognition. 
Men  who  came  into  the  Kingdom  of 
God  by  a  marked  experience  have  often 
lived  under  the  shadow  of  that  same 
experience  until  it  has  become  a  simple 
form.  Repentance  as  a  continuous  ex- 
perience is  an  essential  to  Christian 
progress.  A  service  of  worship  that  does 
not  give  a  chance  of  repentance  in  prayer 
or  psalm  has  lost  an  opportunity  in  the 
spiritual  life  of  at  least  some  worshipers, 
if  not  all.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
every  longing  of  the  soul.  The  most 
30 


THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 

helpful  worship  is  when  these  soul  long- 
ings are  brought  to  attention  and  the 
worshiper  responds  in  his  own  heart  to 
the  appeal  made.  It  is  this  constant 
''going  up  to  God"  in  life  that  makes  for 
the  largest  and  best  in  Christian  char- 
acter. The  best  worship  will  in  a  sane 
way  help  a  congregation  express  its 
varied  and  vast  desires,  and  its  many 
moods.  To  help  the  individual  worshipers 
find  themselves  as  well  as  find  God  there 
should  be  adoration,  gratitude,  trust, 
penitence,  pleading,  pledging,  surrender, 
sympathy,  and  the  multitude  of  personal 
desires  that  crowd  the  life  of  the  best 
Christian.  The  man  with  longings  for  a 
better  life  should  find  in  worship  an  ex- 
pression of  his  need.  The  oftener  we 
find  the  impulse  for  the  good,  the  more 
willing  we  are  to  recognize  the  holy,  the 
surer  we  are  in  having  God. 


31 


WORSHIP  AND  CHURCH  ATTEND- 
ANCE 


Wl  do  not  consider  the  origin  or 
sanction  of  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath. It  is  the  estabhshed  and 
recognized  rehgious  day  of  the  Christian. 
The  question  is  not  one  that  has  to  do 
with  the  origin  of  the  day,  but  how  can 
man  best  use  this  day  set  apart  by  the 
consensus  of  rehgious  opinion  as  a  special 
"day  of  the  Lord?"  As  a  day  of  rest, 
how  can  portions  of  it  be  best  used  in 
worship.^  In  the  pubHc  press,  by  the 
people,  and  among  ministers  there  is  a 
constant  deploring  of  the  prevailing  and 
increasing  neglect  of  divine  worship.  A 
general  lament  is  heard  in  every  land 
because  of  an  indifferent  regard  for  the 
Sabbath  day.  Many  are  attempting  to 
give  the  cause,  or  causes,  leading  to  a 
neglect  of  the  day.  Some  are  noting  with 
emphasis  the  neglect  on  the  part  of  think- 
ing men;  a  practical  agnosticism  on  the 
part  of  all  men;  a  breach  between  the 
Church  and  the  masses;  a  lack  of  con- 
viction on  the  part  of  the  members  of 
35 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

the  Church  on  the  fundamental  doctrines 
of  Christianity;  the  need  of  readjusting 
our  whole  mental  viewpoint  and  catching 
the  meaning  and  inculcating  the  spirit  of 
modern  enlightenment;  a  voice  urging  us 
not  to  mend  but  mind  the  tenets  of  our 
faith;  a  diversity  of  reasons  even  to  con- 
tradictions. There  is  no  single  reason, 
but  there  are  many.  The  fact  remains 
that  an  increasing  number  of  all  classes 
are  drifting  from  the  Church.  The  bar- 
riers against  this  tendency  are  to  be 
found  within  and  not  without  the  Church. 
The  people  who  have  a  workable  creed 
and  a  living  faith,  those  who  have  a 
triumphant  rather  than  a  tentative  Chris- 
tian life — these  are  the  barriers  against 
a  tendency  to  neglect  the  Church.  We 
have  given  the  time  in  criticising  the 
wanderers  from  worship  when  it  should 
have  been  given  to  cultivating  the  wor- 
ship. It  is  not  a  more  elaborate  ritual, 
but  a  more  essential  and  vital  relation- 
ship. It  is  not  enough  to  journey  to 
the  house  of  the  Lord,  but  there  should 
36 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE 

be  found  enough  of  the  joy  of  the  Lord 
to  pay  for  the  toil  of  the  journey.  The 
world  about  every  Church  is  a  needy 
world.  It  has  its  needs  that  can  not  be 
supplied  alone  by  a  delivery  wagon  or 
an  ambulance.  Acts  of  charity  and 
mercy  are  the  fruits  of  religion,  but  not 
the  springs  of  religion.  The  Church 
should  see  the  folks  with  "ungirt  loins" 
and  ''unht  lamps,"  and  help  gird  men 
for  toil  and  light  again  their  lamp  of  hope. 
There  are  times  to  give  a  loaf  or  garment 
for  the  comfort  of  our  fellow-men.  We 
should  at  all  times  be  girding  men  to 
earn  their  own  loaf  and  garment  of  com- 
fort. Too  many  Christians  have  little 
enough  oil  for  their  own  lamp  and  can 
not  give  to  light  the  way  for  another. 

There  are  many  people  who  declare 
they  care  for  little  in  worship  other  than 
the  sermon.  They  do  not  recognize  the 
helpfulness  of  the  worshiping  unit,  and 
do  not  bring  into  the  service  anything 
but  their  own  need,  or  intellectual  desire. 
When  Christian  people  learn  that  wor- 
37 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

ship  is  not  a  sermon,  a  preacher,  an 
organ,  or  a  choir,  but  that  these  with  all 
other  accessories  are  but  the  sacramental 
emblems  of  all  holy  worship,  we  shall 
have  gained  much.  ''The  center  of 
gravity  in  any  sacrament  lies  not  in  the 
material  element,  but  in  the  communal 
act."  Thus  the  center  of  gravity  in 
worship  is  not  in  the  material  elements 
of  that  worship,  but  in  the  communal 
act  that  brings  a  congregation  to  the 
recognition  of  the  personal  Christ.  A 
man  might  perform  an  act  of  private 
devotion  and  think  only  of  himself  and 
the  effect  of  his  act  upon  himself,  but  no 
man  can  perform  an  act  of  public  worship 
and  ignore  his  fellow-worshipers.  It  is 
not  a  question  of  whether  I  am  personally 
inclined  to  sing  or  pray  or  read  or  give 
when  I  go  to  worship.  No  man  really 
worships  who  goes  to  the  Church  for  the 
purpose  of  hearing  a  sermon  or  a  solo. 
He  becomes  a  living  worshiper  in  so  far 
as  he  is  an  emblem  of  the  holy  sacrament 
of  worship.  If  preaching  is  the  only  thing 
38 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE 

in  worship,  why  should  men  see  the 
necessity  of  so  much  diHgence  in  Church 
attendance?  Other  voices  than  the 
preacher's  are  bringing  a  real  evangel. 
The  public  press  is  doing  a  vast  work  in 
bringing  some  kind  of  a  gospel  to  the 
people,  and  they  need  not  go  to  Church. 
The  fear  is  that  the  press  and  pulpit  in 
many  communities  are  too  near  in  the 
kind  of  gospel  that  is  now  being  pro- 
claimed. Men  are  proclaiming  the  ap- 
parent truths  of  Christianity  in  the 
schools,  in  the  lecture  halls,  in  books  and 
magazines.  If  worship  reaches  the  end 
of  its  being  alone  in  the  sermon,  then  we 
must  confess  that  much  of  its  need  is 
eliminated  from  the  experiences  of  men 
of  to-day.  If  the  sermon  is  the  main 
item  of  public  worship,  then  a  man  hear- 
ing it  is  in  a  personal,  rather  than  a  com- 
munal act,  and  one  sermon  in  a  day  is 
quite  sufficient  for  the  personal  needs  of 
any  man.  A  man  who  sees  his  Church 
attendance  approaching  the  sacramental 
ideal,  and  his  acts  of  worship  as  emblems 
39 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

of  his  Lord  to  be  given  as  a  communal 
act  for  the  good  of  all,  will  find  his  at- 
tendance an  essential,  his  acts  a  service, 
and  his  worship  a  saving  power  in  the 
community.  This  sacramental  ideal  in 
worship  does  not  nullify  a  single  act  of 
worship,  but  magnifies  them  all.  The 
sermon  is  not  less,  but  more.  It  is  no 
longer  a  speech,  an  essay,  or  a  discussion. 
It  is  the  minister's  offering  as  an  emblem 
of  his  Lord.  The  sermon  retains  its 
spiritual  characteristics — it  is  an  evangel. 
The  general  items  of  interest  in  the 
consideration  of  the  subject  of  Church 
attendance  are  the  kind  of  service,  our 
obligation  to  it,  the  time  of  holding  such 
service,  and  the  length  of  time  the  service 
shall  continue.  The  time  for  holding  a 
service  of  worship  on  Sunday  should  be 
largely  determined  by  local  conditions. 
One  hour  has  proven  equally  as  good  as 
any  other,  providing  a  real  accommo- 
dation is  afforded  the  largest  number  of 
people.  The  number  of  services  any  man 
shall  attend  upon  the  Sabbath  and  keep 
40 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE 

the  day  holy  can  not  be  exactly  speciiSed. 
The  most  valuable  members  of  the  va- 
rious Churches  of  America  are  those  who 
are  at  least  found  in  the  two  public 
services  of  worship  for  each  Sabbath. 
Other  religious  exercises  of  the  Churches 
are  engaged  in  by  many  Christians  and 
are  thoroughly  enjoyed.  A  man  who 
drives  himself  through  five  or  six  services 
every  Sabbath  day  may  well  question 
whether  he  is  engaged  in  worship  or  a 
sort  of  religious  dissipation.  That  the 
rest  of  Sunday  is  more  than  animal  rest  is 
undoubted,  but  that  it  applies  to  man  as 
well  as  beast  can  not  be  denied.  The 
multiplicity  of  services  on  Sunday  has 
undoubtedly  lessened  the  attendance  in 
the  two  public  services  of  worship.  The 
leaders  in  our  Sunday  school  movement, 
in  the  past  as  in  the  present,  emphasize 
the  attendance  of  the  children  upon  the 
regular  worship  in  the  Church.  Some 
have  been  so  pronounced  as  to  urge  an 
absence  from  the  Sunday  school  rather 
than  from  the  Church  worship.  The 
41 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

fact  remains  that  wherever  a  Church  has 
a  double  service  of  the  Sunday  school  and 
public  worship  in  succession  the  children 
are  largely  absent  from  the  worship.  This 
absence  is  not  so  much  the  fault  of  the 
child  as  the  parent.  Parents  in  increas- 
ingly large  numbers  are  insisting  that 
the  child  shall  not  be  kept  in  any  re- 
ligious services  for  a  period  of  two  hours. 
Many  parents  do  not  seem  to  distinguish 
any  difference  between  a  Sunday  school, 
a  Junior  Society,  and  a  Church.  In  the 
mind  of  these  the  service  of  one  may 
easily  take  the  place  of  the  other  for  the 
purpose  of  the  religious  worship  of  the 
child.  It  is  this  lack  of  discrimination 
on  the  part  of  the  Christian  parent  that 
has  left  the  Church  with  a  following 
that  has  little  conviction  in  the  matter 
of  Church  attendance.  The  young  peo- 
ple's society  in  many  communities  has 
an  effect  upon  the  evening  worship  like 
that  of  the  Sunday  school  upon  the 
morning  worship.  There  is  the  same 
lack  of  discrimination  in  the  Church 
4^ 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE 

among  both  old  and  young  as  to  the  dif- 
ferences of  exercises  known  as  rehgious. 
A  young  people's  devotional  service  or  a 
Sunday  school  service  can  never  supplant 
the  service  of  worship,  and  in  the  life  of 
the  individual  Christian  it  will  never  take 
a  large  place  as  a  function  of  worship. 
The  work  of  the  youth,  if  not  the  worship, 
is  too  well  established  to  expect  any  con- 
siderable change  shall  be  made  as  to 
form.  To  eliminate  the  program  of  re- 
ligious exercises  as  carried  on  by  the 
youth  would  do  irreparable  harm.  It 
does,  however,  remain  that  a  needed  ad- 
justment should  be  made  that  we  may 
keep  all  the  forces  of  the  Church  to  the 
absolutely  essential  requirements  of  the 
Christian  religion,  and  the  young  as  well 
as  the  old  shall  become  devout  wor- 
shipers. ^ 

The  apparent  need  in  the  multiplicity 
of  Sunday  services  is  brevity.  It  may  be 
true  that  there  are  those  ''who  paralyze 
preachers  by  a  demand  for  brevity  before 
everything  else."  We  have  the  other 
43 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

alternative  of  long  sermons  and  services 
and  paralyzed  Churches.  There  are 
those  who  even  think  a  thirty-minute 
sermon  would  make  some  men  more  ef- 
fective ministers.  We  may  not  "have 
grasped  the  rudiments  of  the  first  idea 
of  Christian  worship,"  because  we  hold 
for  the  short  sermon  with  a  brief  service. 
It  must  be  recognized  that  in  America 
we  have  practically  everywhere  the 
double  service  of  both  morning  and 
evening,  and  this  is  a  vastly  different 
problem  than  that  of  men  who  have  but 
the  single  service  of  worship  for  the 
morning  and  evening  of  the  Sabbath  day. 
Neither  is  the  minister  becoming  a  priest, 
or  unsatisfactory,  that  the  American 
congregation  continues  to  be  insistent 
upon  briefer  services  for  their  Churches. 
The  Church  must  squarely  face  conditions 
and  adjust  her  services  of  worship  to  the 
reasonable  demand  of  her  people.  The 
big  problem  of  the  day  is  how  to  develop 
the  spiritual  life  of  the  people  we  have. 
The  problem  of  the  relation  of  the  youth 
44 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE 

to  the  Church  is  not  settled  because 
they  are  in  some  way  connected  with  the 
work  of  the  Church.  The  primary  weak- 
ness of  the  young  people's  work  has  arisen 
from  the  fact  of  their  being  left  to  find 
their  own  means  of  religious  expression 
without  any  instruction  in  the  means 
already  at  hand.  One  of  the  biggest 
problems  of  the  Church  of  to-day  and  our 
immediate  future  is  how  to  hold  the  chil- 
dren and  youth  to  religious  worship. 
The  child  is  not  recognized  as  a  part  of 
the  worshiping  unit.  In  that  Church 
where,  at  the  public  morning  worship,  a 
children's  hymn  is  sung,  a  short  address 
given  for  the  children,  a  prayer  offered 
that  shall  include  their  needs,  and  an 
opportunity  and  the  ability  furnished 
them  of  making  an  offering,  there  will  be 
found  the  children,  if  the  parents  make 
no  objection.  It  will  require  an  entire 
readjustment  in  many,  if  not  most,  of 
our  Churches  if  we  put  the  children  back 
in  the  pews  and  hold  them  there  because 
they  want  to  stay.  The  service  of  worship 
45 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

that  does  not  make  its  appeal  to  the 
youth  may  well  be  put  under  suspicion. 
A  revival  of  worship  among  the  children 
of  the  Churches  is  one  of  the  most  press- 
ing needs  of  the  present.  The  problem 
of  Church  attendance  will  be  an  in- 
creasingly difficult  one  in  proportion  as 
the  need  of  the  worship  of  childhood  is 
not  met. 

Some  people  are  trying  to  find  justi- 
fication for  an  indifferent  Church  at- 
tendance by  deflecting  attention  from 
themselves  and  calling  attention  to  the 
humanitarian,  educational,  and  chari- 
table side  of  the  Christian  religion.  If 
you  eliminate  the  element  of  religious 
worship  from  our  present-day  Christianity 
you  have  left  little  more  than  an  inde- 
fensible humanitarianism  without  propa- 
gating or  sustaining  influence  to  last  its 
generation.  As  a  matter  of  experience, 
those  who  are  living  the  most  helpfully 
in  the  community,  whether  in  city,  town, 
or  country,  are  those  who  have  both  de- 
sire and  delight  in  worship.  It  would  be 
46 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE 

little  credit  to  the  American  youth  to 
try  to  account  for  any  lack  of  devotion 
to  worship  by  holding  him  as  an  example 
of  interested  manhood  in  other  works  of 
really  Christian  value.  The  young  do 
not  advance  such  spurious  reasons.  The 
young  people  most  interested  in  general 
works  of  Christian  character  are  those 
most  interested  in  the  personal  elements 
of  private  and  public  devotions. 


47 


WORSHIP  AND  PUNCTUALITY 


ONE  of  the  most  grievous  errors  at- 
tached to  the  American  Churches 
is  the  habitual  and  well-nigh 
universal  practice  of  coming  into  the 
service  of  worship  after  it  has  begun. 
There  are  people  in  nearly  every  Church 
who  make  no  pretentions  of  coming  into 
the  Church  for  the  purpose  of  worship 
until  after  the  singing  of  the  first  hymn. 
To  come  into  the  Church  during  the  so- 
called  "preliminaries"  or  "introductory 
services"  is  the  settled  purpose  of  many 
Church  members.  The  writer  has  seen 
over  fifty  people,  on  repeated  occasions, 
enter  the  Church  for  worship  after  the 
prayer  had  been  offered.  When  a  min- 
ister was  asked  why  he  could  not  get 
from  the  worship  all  he  expected  any 
worshiper  should  receive,  he  answered  it 
was  in  part  from  the  fact  of  the  inter- 
ruptions of  the  service  for  which  he  felt 
an  unusual  responsibility.  To  bear  out 
the  reality  of  his  diflSculty,  he  called  at- 
51 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

tention  to  a  condition,  not  unusually 
exaggerated,  of  having  five  elders  out  of 
seven  of  the  Church  come  into  the  wor- 
ship some  time  after  the  service  had 
begun.  When  people  can  be  found  in 
good  time  at  the  house  of  pleasure,  the 
concert  hall,  or  the  social  gathering,  they 
should  be  expected  to  be  in  good  time  in 
the  house  of  worship.  If  a  man  of  good 
taste  hesitates  to  disturb  a  social  function 
by  a  tardy  entrance,  how  much  more 
shall  a  Christian  hesitate  to  disturb  a 
service  of  holy  worship.  Self-respect 
should  limit  the  number  of  men  and 
women  who  would  venture  the  entire 
length  of  a  church  building  after  twenty 
minutes  of  a  service  of  worship  was  past. 
To  see  the  service  of  worship  practically 
stopped  until  a  crowd  of  late-comers  can 
be  seated,  or  to  have  the  organist  play 
at  specified  places  in  the  service  for  the 
same  purpose,  convicts  of  the  lack  of  good 
taste,  a  moral  obtuseness,  and  an  unholy 
act.  No  one  seems  yet  to  have  discovered 
a  drastic  measure  suflScient  to  correct 
52 


PUNCTUALITY 

this  great  evil  on  the  part  of  the  American 
Church-goer. 

There  surely  can  be  no  excuse  for  the 
man  who  attributes  his  late  coming  into 
worship  to  the  fact  of  his  having  but 
little  interest  in  that  service  other  than 
to  listen  to  a  sermon.  Here  again  is  to 
be  seen  our  fundamental  defect  in  min- 
imizing worship.  Either  prayer  or  praise 
is  quite  as  essential  to  real  worship  as  is 
preaching.  No  man  is  prepared  for  a 
sermon  who  has  made  himself  a  disturb- 
ing factor  by  entering  a  Church  during 
the  worship.  The  best  preparation  for 
receiving  a  sermon  is  in  participating  in 
the  various  acts  of  worship.  If  there  is  a 
co-operative  value  in  listening  to  a  ser- 
mon, there  is  a  greater  value  in  the 
united  prayers  of  a  congregation. 

It  is  quite  true  we  have  largely  omitted 
from  our  life  in  both  form  and  spirit  that 
which  is  found  in  the  unwritten  hturgy 
of  the  old  Scottish  family  worship  where 
there  was  a  frequent  petition  on  Saturday 
night:  "Prepare  us  for  the  Sabbath 
53 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

which  is  drawing  on."  The  encroach- 
ment of  the  secular  on  the  sacred  is  very 
marked  in  our  way  of  spending  Saturday 
night.  We  have  left  out  of  our  reckon- 
ing of  the  Genesis  account  of  creation 
of  days,  the  statement  in  full,  "And  the 
evening  and  the  morning  were  the  first 
day."  We  need  a  Saturday  evening  to 
go  with  a  Sunday  morning  in  order  that 
we  may  have  a  full  day  of  rest  and 
worship.  It  will  take  less  Saturday  even- 
ing dissipation  to  bring  more  Sunday 
morning  devotion.  It  is  probably  true 
of  us  that  "We  have  bustle  all  the  week 
and  baldness  all  the  Sunday."  The 
keeping  of  late  hours  in  shop,  store, 
social  life,  and  home  has  undoubtedly 
much  to  do  with  the  lack  of  punctuality 
on  the  Sabbath  morning. 

An  item  of  practical  consideration  in 
the  topic  of  punctuality  is  the  hour  fixed 
for  the  opening  of  worship.  We  are  very 
unyielding  in  the  hours  appointed  for  the 
public  worship.  There  is  little  deviation 
from  the  hours  of  half-past  ten  and 
54 


PUNCTUALITY 

eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  half- 
past  seven  and  eight  o'clock  in  the  even- 
ning.  That  these  are  not  the  only  hours 
adapted  to  worship,  or  even  the  best 
hours  for  all  communities,  could  be 
easily  proven.  The  Roman  Catholic 
Church  show  us  they  can  use  hours  of 
worship  wholly  different  from  those  we 
would  select.  Protestant  Churches  in 
Ireland  have  the  opening  hour  of  worship 
at  half -past  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning 
and  at  half-past  six  o'clock  in  the  eve- 
ning. The  Churches  of  Scotland  and 
England  generally  have  the  opening  hour 
of  worship  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, but  some  use  eleven-thirty  o'clock, 
and  still  others  have  the  first  service  at 
twelve  o'clock.  In  many  communities 
the  second  service  of  the  day  is  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Six-thirty 
o'clock  in  the  evening  is  the  very  com- 
mon hour  for  the  second  service.  These 
hours  might  not  be  found  the  most  con- 
venient for  many  American  communi- 
ties, but  the  main  contention  is  that 
55 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

there  is  no  virtue  in  the  selection  of  one 
hour  over  another,  providing  only  an 
hour  is  found  when  people  can  be  ex- 
pected and  should  be  expected  to  be 
present  at  the  opening  of  the  worship. 
The  main  thing  to  be  said  in  favor  of 
the  varied  hours  of  service  in  Great 
Britain  is  that  the  worshipers  are  in 
their  pews  before  the  minister  enters  to 
begin  his  part  of  the  worship.  The 
writer  took  occasion  to  notice  in  con- 
ducting worship  thirty  times  in  Scotland, 
in  various  Churches  located  in  towns  and 
cities,  that  during  these  services  not 
over  ten  people  entered  the  church  after 
the  first  word  of  the  worship  was  spoken. 
A  congregation  that  has  had  the  benefit 
of  such  punctuality  will  be  as  insistent 
upon  its  continuance  as  any  minister 
could  be.  For  the  two  services  of  regular 
worship  there  is  but  one  consistent  rule 
for  the  worshiper  to  observe,  and  that  is: 
If  he  find  he  has  arrived  after  the  service 
has  begun,  that  he  offer  up  his  prayer  at 
the  door  and  return  to  his  home.  Where 
56 


PUNCTUALITY 

this  has  been  observed  as  the  habit  of 
a  particular  Church,  the  problem  of 
punctuahty  has  been  solved.  The  Church 
has  not  suffered  from  the  absence  of  its 
tardy  member,  and  the  member  has  found 
a  corrective  of  an  exceedingly  bad  habit. 

The  minister  will  prove  of  little  benefit 
to  the  correction  of  tardiness  in  the 
Church  worship  by  becoming  a  party  to 
it.  A  preacher's  conduct  is  set  forth 
in  one  of  our  Churches  in  the  following: 
"Be  punctual.  Do  everything  exactly 
at  the  time.  And  do  not  mend  our  rules, 
but  keep  them:  not  for  wrath,  but  for 
conscience'  sake."  A  minister  who  begins 
a  service  of  worship  late  is  guilty  of  a 
grievous  blunder,  and  may  reasonably 
be  held  culpably  negligent. 

The  hour  fixed  for  closing  a  service  of 
worship  may  not  be  so  precisely  selected 
as  the  hour  for  opening,  but  punctuality 
here  is  not  to  be  despised.  The  officials 
of  a  Church  with  the  minister  should  de- 
termine the  usual  length  of  service,  and  in 
the  main  the  time  set  should  be  observed. 
57 


WORSHIP  AND  THE  SERVICE  OF 
PRAISE 


THERE  is  no  part  of  worship  that 
has  been  so  universally  recognized 
as  having  an  unquestioned  place 
as  the  service  of  praise.  The  service  of 
praise  has  been  most  bitterly  contested 
as  to  the  forms  of  expression  that  shall  be 
used.  Great  Churches,  and  even  nations, 
have  been  brought  to  a  high  passion  in 
the  discussion  of  the  use  or  non-use  of 
an  instrument  of  music  in  the  service  of 
worship.  There  is  no  longer  any  ques- 
tion as  to  the  use  of  an  instrument,  but 
there  is  still  the  question  as  to  the  how 
and  when  in  the  use  of  an  instrument. 
There  is  not  an  item  of  praise  worship 
that  has  not  been  carefully  and  earnestly 
considered.  There  is  no  part  of  our 
worship  where  we  are  as  far  from  una- 
nimity as  we  are  in  the  service  and  ac- 
cessories of  praise.  As  it  is  impossible 
to  get  an  agreement  of  judgment  on  the 
various  topics,  it  remains  for  us  to  at- 
tempt to  give  the  view  that  may  appeal 
to  reason,  conform  to  historical  require- 
61 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

ments,  and  represent  a  workable  service. 
There  shall  be  no  attempt  to  thrust  upon 
any  one  only  personal  notions,  or  fix  the 
judgment  of  one  against  the  many.  The 
whole  eflFort  should  be  in  the  line  of  prac- 
tical considerations  of  the  essentials  of 
praise  worship.  The  attempt  should  be 
to  seek  for  both  liberty  and  propriety 
in  things  religious. 

The  suggestion  of  Mr.  Herbert  Booth 
may  be  kept  in  mind  while  thinking  upon 
this  important  topic.  He  said,  *'Our 
power  is  in  what  we  sing  about,  not  in 
how  we  sing."  The  music  of  worship 
must  be  considered  a  means  and  not  an 
end.  There  are  the  two  standpoints — 
first,  of  the  musician,  and  secondly,  that 
of  the  man  who  is  jealous  for  the  pro- 
prieties of  divine  worship.  The  first  may 
easily  miss  the  caution  Father  Haberl 
gave  at  the  St.  Cecilia  Congress,  at 
Mainz,  in  1884,  when  he  said,  ''The 
Church  wishes  for  worship  in  music,  but 
not  for  the  worship  of  music." 

The  service  of  praise  makes  the  first 
62 


SERVICE  OF  PRAISE 

insistent  demand  on  the  congregation  as 
conceived  as  the  worshiping  unit.  It  is 
time  to  state  that  the  theory  of  worship 
herein  considered  makes  for  the  "Priest- 
hood of  the  congregation."  It  is  not  the 
minister  or  organist  or  choir,  but  the 
congregation  that  must  be  recognized  as 
the  worshiping  unit  in  every  part  of  the 
service.  The  minister,  the  organist,  and 
the  choir  are  not  apart  from  the  congre- 
gation, but  are  part  of  it.  Whatever 
helps  the  congregation  in  worship  shall 
be  accepted,  and  whatever  hinders  the 
congregation  may  well  be  rejected. 

There  have  been  mystics  and  monks 
of  the  past  who  thought  it  their  privilege 
to  indulge  solitary,  ecstatic,  and  some- 
times seraphic  contemplation  free  from 
any  external  distractions,  such  as  an 
instrument  of  music  or  the  voice  in  praise. 
The  Friends  objected  to  singing  as  a 
form  of  worship,  and  about  three  hun- 
dred years  ago  there  was  no  singing  or 
music  of  any  kind  in  the  Baptist  Churches 
of  England.  Even  to  sing  the  songs  of 
63 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

David  was  a  misdemeanor  in  England 
in  a  former  day.  The  "silent  Church" 
or  the  "songless  sanctuary"  has  not  been 
unknown  in  the  past,  but  it  usually  arose 
from  the  effort  of  the  people  to  make 
them  such,  and  from  a  conviction  that 
music  did  not  tend  toward  real  worship. 
To-day  we  approach  the  "songless  sanc- 
tuary," convinced  it  ought  to  be  a  house 
of  praise.  Our  silence  arises  not  from 
intention,  but  from  a  lack  of  interest  and 
instruction. 

The  first  human  attempt  in  making  a 
spiritual  impression  upon  a  worshiper 
entering  the  church  is  that  of  the  or- 
ganist in  his  use  of  the  organ.  The  or- 
ganist has  one  of  the  real  opportunities 
in  contributing  to  the  worship  of  an 
audience.  It  is  within  his  power  to  so 
hold  and  impress  a  gathering  audience 
that  it  shall  have  been  brought  into  a 
worshiping  unit  before  the  minister  has 
even  entered  the  room.  An  organist  at 
his  place  in  time  to  welcome  the  first  of 
the  coming  worshipers  into  the  church 
64 


SERVICE  OF  PRAISE 

has  the  most  difficult  and  yet  the  most 
exhilarating  task  of  any  who  may  be  re- 
lied  upon   to   create   an   atmosphere   of 
spiritual  devotion.     If  he  has  exercised 
due  care  in  the  selection  of  the  opening 
themes,  he  can  even  compel  a  worshipful 
attitude  as  well  as  a  worshipful  spirit. 
He  can  practically  make  the  people  ap- 
proach their  worship  with  due  reverence 
and  godly  fear.    In  all  of  the  opening  of 
the  service  he  is  the  master  of  the  situa- 
tion.    The  remaining  part  of  the  hour 
will  be  for  him  a  service  of  helpfulness  to 
some  other  part  of  the  acts  of  worship. 
The  people  entering  the  place  of  worship 
will  not  all  come  recognizing  the  presence 
of  the  Lord  of  the  temple,  but  they  can 
be  solemnized,  or,  if  need  be,  subdued, 
by  the  impressions  of  the  organ  music,  if 
this  be  given  with  soulful  interest  and  a 
correct  choice  of  themes.     The  organist 
not  only  has  an  opportunity  in  the  pre- 
lude of  the  service,  but  he  has  quite  as 
essential  a  place    in  the    postlude.      It 
has  been  a  strange  wonder  to  many  a 
^  65 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

minister  why,  after  an  appeal  has  been 
made  to  the  more  serious  nature  of  an 
audience,  it  shall  be  dissipated  the  mo- 
ment after  the  benediction  has  been 
pronounced  by  the  forte  and  sometimes 
over- jubilant  march  by  which  the  people 
are  sent  from  the  church.  The  transition 
from  the  pleading  to  the  martial,  from 
the  tender  to  the  boisterous,  and  from 
the  penitential  to  the  jubilant,  which  is 
often  seen  in  going  from  the  impressions 
of  a  sermon  to  that  of  the  organ  postlude, 
is  destructive  to  the  unitary  impression 
sought  after.  If  the  organist  has,  at  the 
beginning,  been  instrumental  in  gathering 
in  the  wanderings  of  mind  and  heart  of 
an  assembling  congregation,  he  has  also 
the  opportunity  of  the  last  impression 
which  may  be  left  as  a  benediction  upon 
a  departing  worshiper.  The  use  of  the 
organ  in  the  service  of  hymn  singing  is 
often  ineffective.  Mr.  John  Spencer 
Curwen,  member  of  the  Royal  Academy 
of  Music,  was  so  impressed  with  a  con- 
versation he  once  had  with  Ira  D.  Sankey 
66 


SERVICE  OF  PRAISE 

on  the  use  of  the  organ,  that  he  has  in- 
cluded the  substance  of  the  conversation 
in  one  of  his  books  on  music.  Mr.  Sankey 
said:  "I  use  my  reed-organ  just  to  sup- 
port my  own  voice  or  the  voice  of  the 
choir.  But  Oh!  the  rushing  and  roaring 
of  the  organ  that  often  greets  me  when  I 
attend  a  Church — the  din  is  something 
so  great  I  can  not  sing.  If  the  organists 
must  make  a  noise,  let  them  play  a  solo. 
When  voices  are  singing,  voices  ought  to 
be  at  the  top."  We  have  heard  organists 
who  would  cease  with  the  organ  ac- 
companiment during  a  hymn  for  several 
measures,  and  in  this  way  the  audience 
could  see  how  effectively  it  was  engaged 
in  the  service  of  praise.  A  congregation 
trained  in  the  pauses  of  an  organist  will 
soon  find  it  is  not  so  entirely  dependent 
upon  the  accompaniment  as  is  the  usual 
company  of  worshipers. 

The  location  of  the  organ,  organist, 

and  choir  would  properly  be  considered 

under  the  topic  of  church  architecture, 

but  its  connection  with  the  item  of  praise 

67 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

is  so  close  it  may  well  be  considered  here. 
The  Protestant  Churches  in  America  are 
generally  agreed  that  the  organ  shall  not 
be  placed  in  a  rear  gallery  of  the  church, 
as  is  the  custom  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
churches.  Some  of  the  organs  are  placed 
at  the  right  hand  of  the  pulpit,  and  some 
at  the  left,  but  in  a  larger  number  of 
places  the  organ  is  at  the  rear  of  the 
minister's  platform,  and  sometimes  raised 
considerably  above  the  minister's  desk. 
The  organs  in  the  churches  of  Scotland 
are  usually  in  front  of  the  pulpit,  and 
below  the  minister's  platform.  Each  of 
the  locations  named  have  favoring  con- 
siderations. The  congregation  recognized 
as  the  worshiping  unit  would  find  its 
theory  most  practically  carried  out  in  a 
church  where  the  arrangements  of  the 
choir  and  organist  are  such  as  to  locate 
them  in  close  proximity  to  the  congre- 
gation. If  the  organist  is  to  be  director 
of  the  choir,  then  the  position  of  the 
English-Scotch  choir  and  console  is  best. 
It  is  wholly  unnecessary  in  these  days 
68 


SERVICE  OF  PRAISE 

that  the  organist  shall  be  put  upon  a 
bench  high  above  the  choir  and  minister, 
and  at  the  rear  of  both.  Let  the  console 
be  detached  from  the  organ  and  placed 
where  the  organist  can  see  both  the  choir 
and  the  minister.  It  may  not  be  wise  for 
the  organist  to  be  the  director  of  voices, 
but  where  it  is  necessary  the  organist 
is  in  a  position  of  visible  command.  In 
this  position  he  is  also  in  a  relationship 
with  the  minister  that  will  make  their 
work  of  greater  harmony.  The  attached 
console  in  America  is  common,  but  it  is 
not  convenient.  Every  advantage  sug- 
gested for  the  detached  console  applies 
in  the  use  of  a  reed  organ  or  a  piano.  Let 
no  architect  declare  this  arrangement 
disturbs  the  beauty  and  effectiveness  of 
arrangement  in  the  front  of  a  church 
building.  The  most  beautiful  and  at  the 
same  time  the  most  churchly  interior  ef- 
fects found  in  modern  church  architecture 
is  where  the  minister's  platform  is  placed 
high  with  the  background  of  the  organ, 
or,  if  the  organ  is  divided,  and  placed  on 
69 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

either  side  of  the  alcove,  then  a  dome 
effect,  which  adds  greatly  to  acoustic 
effects,  may  be  used.  Below  and  in 
front  of  the  high  platform  of  the  preacher 
is  the  choir  platform.  To  the  front  and 
facing  the  choir  is  the  console.  This  ar- 
rangement of  choir  platform  lends  it- 
self to  any  service  of  worship  in  the 
form  of  any  Church.  In  those  Churches 
where  the  people  meet  about  the  chancel 
to  receive  the  Holy  Communion,  a  second 
platform,  extending  the  entire  distance 
around  the  choir  platform,  is  furnished 
with  its  altar.  In  this  way  the  largest 
provision  is  made  for  the  special  service 
of  the  Communion.  In  those  Churches 
where  the  elders  distribute  the  elements 
of  the  Holy  Communion,  their  place  is 
in  the  choir  arrangements,  and  from  this 
platform  the  service  of  the  Communion 
is  conducted.  The  effect  upon  the  choir 
in  the  change  from  the  rear  position  to 
the  front  is  unmistakable.  It  is  not  for 
one  Church  or  city  or  denomination  to 
say  of  another,  "Thou  art  guiltier  than 
70 


SERVICE  OF  PRAISE 

I,"  In  the  lack  of  decorum  in  the  choir. 
The  country  choir  is  no  more  culpable 
than  is  the  city  choir:  the  paid  choir  is 
no  better  than  the  voluntary.  There  are 
choirs  where  the  spirit  of  reverence  and 
devotion  prevails.  That  there  is  great 
laxity  on  the  part  of  Church  choirs  in 
every  city  and  in  every  denomination  can 
be  easily  verified  in  the  visit  of  ten 
churches  in  various  localities  and  of  dif- 
ferent faiths.  We  would  make  it  easy 
for  a  choir  to  worship  while  they  are  en- 
gaged in  leading  a  congregation  in  wor- 
ship. Another  consideration  which  favors 
placing  the  choir  in  front  of  the  minister's 
platform  arises  from  the  fact  that  many 
churches  have  high  ceilings  and  the  organ 
is  placed  so  high,  with  its  swell  box  at  a 
height,  that  makes  it  impossible  for  the 
singers  immediately  under  the  organ  to 
get  the  support  of  the  organ  they  would 
get  if  they  were  farther  removed,  and 
at  the  front. 

We  do  not  consider  the  choir  other 
than  in  the  act  of  worship.    Its  instruc- 
71 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

tion  or  its  management  would  be  a  topic 
beside  the  mark.  The  entrance  into  their 
respective  places  is  usually  collective. 
Some  Churches  prefer  the  members  of 
the  choir  shall  take  their  places  one  by 
one,  as  does  the  congregation.  Where 
the  choir  assembles  to  enter  as  a  com- 
pany, some  ministers  meet  with  them 
and  have  a  prayer  before  they  enter 
upon  the  worship.  Everything  about  a 
service  should  be  suggestive  of  the  con- 
gregational unit  of  worship,  and  the  en- 
trance and  attitude  of  a  choir  will  have 
much  of  suggestive  effect  in  a  recognition 
of  this  relationship. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Monk,  an  editor  of 
"Hymns,  Ancient  and  Modern,"  de- 
clared, "The  better  the  choir  singing  in 
any  church  the  worse  will  be  the  con- 
gregational singing."  Those  who  are 
most  insistent  that  we  are  not  at  our 
full  task  until  we  have  solicited  the 
service  of  every  worshiper  in  praise  are 
also  those  who  are  finding  greatest  help 
in  their  efforts  in  the  assistance  of  a 
72 


SERVICE  OF  PRAISE 

choir.  The  statement  of  some  that  people 
would  rather  sing  than  be  sung  to  is 
true  only  in  part.  It  takes  more  than  a 
Disciplinary  injunction,  "Let  all  the  peo- 
ple sing,"  or  the  same  message  flashed 
before  a  congregation  every  time  it  rises 
for  the  praise,  to  get  all  the  people  to 
sing.  The  service  of  praise  will  never 
reach  the  desired  goal  in  any  particular 
Church  until  all  the  people  who  can 
sing  shall  accept  their  duty  and  see  their 
privilege.  The  Methodist  Discipline  con- 
tains the  important,  if  ineffective,  in- 
junction, "As  singing  is  a  part  of  divine 
worship  in  which  all  ought  to  unite, 
therefore  exhort  every  person  in  the 
congregation  to  sing,  not  one  in  ten  only." 
Congregational  singing  is  desired,  but 
how  to  bring  it  about  is  the  problem 
ever  open.  The  most  effective  service  of 
praise  from  the  standpoint  of  worship 
has  been  observed  in  those  churches 
where  a  choir  was  used  to  lead  the  con- 
gregation. Then  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  stood  and  sang  as  best  they 
73 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

could  in  an  act  of  reverent  and  devout 
worship.  Some  notably  large  choirs  in 
the  city  have  been  instructed  together 
as  a  musical  organization,  but  in  the 
service  of  worship  the  choir  has  been 
broken  into  groups  and  arranged  in 
various  parts  of  the  auditorium,  and  the 
congregation  having  a  good  lead  in  every 
part,  were  led  to  join  heartily.  With  all 
the  clamoring  on  the  part  of  some  people 
for  new  hymns,  it  might  be  well  to  sug- 
gest that  we  stay  long  enough  with  those 
in  use  to  really  learn  them  and  sing 
them.  A  congregation  proved  itself  very 
effective  in  a  praise  worship  by  singing 
both  of  the  morning  hymns  to  the  same 
tune.  We  are  apt  to  sacrifice  value  for 
variety,  and  especially  is  this  true  in 
Church  music.  Every  member  of  every 
congregation  should  attempt  to  sing  the 
hymns,  the  Gloria  Patri,  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  any  other  portion  of  praise 
worship  that  is  in  continuous  use  in  the 
Church  service.  We  have  an  unsolved 
problem  in  the  majority  of  Churches  in 
74 


SERVICE  OF  PRAISE 

the  Church  music.  Too  much  of  the 
work  of  the  Church  is  looked  at  from  a 
temporary  point  of  view.  In  the  case  of 
music  the  Church  gives  the  matter  to  a 
committee  that  is  wilHng  to  find  some- 
thing for  the  year  or  the  session  that  will 
answer  the  purpose  without  so  much  as 
considering  the  question  of  cultivating 
the  congregation,  and  at  the  end  of  a 
year  progress  has  not  been  made.  The 
congregation  recognizing  its  place  as  the 
worshiping  unit  in  the  service  of  praise 
will  hasten  the  time  hoped  for  by  Profes- 
sor Blaikie,  and  expressed  by  him  many 
years  ago:  "Imagination  can  hardly  set 
bounds  to  the  spiritual  gain  that  would 
come  to  congregations — if  the  singing 
could  be  brought  up  to  its  proper  level — 
if  every  psalm  and  hymn  were  a  real 
cardiphonia,  the  appropriate  utterance 
of  the  heart." 

The  kind  of  music,  the  selection  of 
praise  numbers,  the  use  and  the  kind  of 
hymn-books — all  have  an  important  re- 
lation to  the  service  of  praise.    The  va- 
75 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

rious  Churches  have  an  accepted  hym- 
nology  which,  in  the  main,  is  a  credit  to 
the  abihty  of  these  Churches  musically, 
intellectually,  and  spiritually.  The  dan- 
ger becomes  apparent  when  we  know  that 
many  Churches  are  not  using  an  ac- 
credited hymnal.  There  is  an  ardent 
advocacy  for  the  use  of  certain  hymns 
and  tunes  as  make  it  quite  impossible  to 
develop  spirituality  where  they  are  in 
sole  use.  In  a  day  of  the  making  of  so 
many  hymn-books,  and  of  such  keen  in- 
terest of  the  publishers  in  the  sale  of  the 
same,  it  is  more  than  ever  incumbent 
upon  the  Churches — in  sheer  protection — 
that  they  look  with  close  scrutiny  to  any 
book  of  praise  that  may  be  used  in 
public  worship.  The  appeal  to  the  vulgar 
because  some  are  claiming  the  masses 
are  inherently  vulgar,  is  wrong,  both  in 
the  premise  of  the  vulgarity  of  the  crowd 
or  that  the  appeal  should  come  from 
their  own  standards.  The  entire  folk- 
song of  the  nations  deny  the  theory.  A 
critic  has  said:  "One  can  not  believe  that 
76 


SERVICE  OF  PRAISE 

the  Reformation  would  have  carried 
greater  conviction  had  Luther  sung  '  Hold 
the  fort'  instead  of  'A  safe  stronghold:" 
or  that  the  Covenanters  would  have 
given  evidence  of  deeper  feeling  had  they 
exchanged  the  old  Scottish  psalm  tunes 
for  things  like  '  Tell  mother  I  '11  be  there.' " 
That  it  is  possible  to  arrest  the  attention 
of  some  sinful  soul  by  sentiment,  or  even 
sound,  there  is  no  doubt,  but  you  can 
not  build  a  stalwart  Christian  character 
on  either  sound  or  sentiment.  There 
may  be  unjust  criticism  of  the  author 
who  declares  he  was  made  sad  over  the 
young  man  who  at  a  meeting  was 
''brightly  converted,"  and  in  twenty- 
four  hours  lapsed  to  a  low  dancing  saloon, 
by  saying,  "Perhaps,  after  all,  the  young 
man  was  merely  following  the  ragtime 
of  the  revival  meeting  to  its  fountain- 
head."  Because  hymns,  like  people  of 
mediocre  life,  have  been  blessed  of  God 
in  turning  some  to  righteousness  should 
be  no  conclusive  reason  that  a  standard 
of  mediocre  life  shall  be  that  most  blessed 
77 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

of  God  in  the  saving  of  the  world.  The 
degree  of  feeling  in  devotional  music 
can  be,  and  should  be  made,  to  reach  the 
highest  and  most  intense  emotional  ex- 
periences. We  should,  however,  make 
the  praise  service  express  thought  as  well 
as  feeling,  sense  as  well  as  sound.  A 
minister  has  an  accredited  hymn-book 
put  in  his  hand,  and  one  of  the  largest 
services  for  his  people  will  be  in  teaching 
them  to  appreciate  it,  sing  it,  and  wor- 
ship God  in  it.  There  are  ministers  who 
give  no  attention  to  the  service  of  praise 
at  all.  Some  ministers  have  made  no 
selection  of  hymns  before  coming  into 
the  service,  and  make  a  selection  at 
random,  or  they  depend  upon  the  selec- 
tion of  the  organist  or  a  choir  leader.  A 
man  stands  accused  of  sheer  shiftlessness 
who  has  given  no  thought  to  the  items 
of  praise  in  the  service  of  worship.  It  is 
reasonable  to  expect,  if  the  minister  has 
an  idea  as  to  what  he  would  attempt  to 
do  with  a  service,  he  should  be  interested 
to  have  everything  of  that  service  con- 
78 


SERVICE  OF  PRAISE 

spire  to  the  one  end  of  accomplishing 
his  purpose.  He  is  the  only  one  who  can, 
with  any  degree  of  knowledge,  make 
the  selection  of  appropriate  praise. 

The  character  of  the  opening  praise 
is  not  fixed  with  any  great  unanimity. 
The  majority  of  American  Churches  be- 
gin with  a  hymn.  Some  have  raised  ob- 
jection to  the  use  of  a  hymn  as  an  open- 
ing of  the  praise  service  because  a  hymn 
is  jubilant,  and  at  the  commencement 
of  worship  the  people  of  faith  should 
come  before  their  Lord  in  a  penitential 
as  well  as  a  reverential  manner.  We 
have  been  told,  by  those  who  are  jealous 
for  the  use  of  the  psalm  in  worship,  that 
they  would  consider  it  as  flippant  to 
begin  a  service  of  holy  worship  by  the 
use  of  a  hymn.  The  invocation  in  some 
Churches  takes  the  place  of  an  opening 
expression  of  a  congregation.  The  means 
of  approach  can  be  made  by  the  use  of 
a  wisely  selected  hymn. 

It  may  well  be  regretted  that  the 
hymn-book  of  Israel  is  not  made  better 
79 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

use  of  by  the  Churches  of  America.  It 
may  not  be  the  part  of  wisdom  to  insist 
that  our  whole  praise  service  shall  depend 
upon  the  Psalms  for  the  substance  of 
expression,  but  a  careful  elimination,  as 
is  seen  in  most  Church  hymnarys,  is 
more  unwise.  That  the  Psalms  lend 
themselves  to  the  tunes  that  are  accept- 
able in  any  worship  is  shown  by  the 
Church  that  makes  its  praise  from  the 
Psalms,  set  to  tunes,  of  general  accept- 
ance. If  the  Churches  could  get  but  a 
glimpse  of  the  beauty  and  power  of  the 
Psalms  that  touched  the  soul  of  Perowne 
when  he  tried  to  speak  their  praise,  we 
would  have  more  of  their  glory  revealed 
to  the  souls  of  other  men.  "If  the  best 
prayer-book,  the  Hebrew  Psalter  is  also 
the  best  of  hymn-books.  Of  all  devotion, 
whether  sung  or  spoken,  it  is  the  model — 
at  once  the  sublimest  and  safest,  at  once 
the  most  exalted  and  most  sober.  It  is 
the  only  entire  book  in  the  Bible  which 
God  has  given  expressly  to  aid  and  guide 
the  worship  of  man:  and  whilst  some  of 
80 


SERVICE  OF  PRAISE 

its  strains  come  down  to  the  cradle, 
others  ascend  to  a  height  of  Scriptural 
communion,  when  for  a  higher  note  a 
seraph's  voice  would  be  needed,  and 
angels  take  up  the  chorus.  And  whilst 
adapted  to  every  capacity  in  the  range 
of  experience,  it  includes  any  case,  from 
the  depths  of  penitential  remorse  to  the 
fullest  and  most  exulting  realization  of 
God's  friendship.  And  if  the  most  com- 
prehensive of  manuals,  let  it  not  be  for- 
gotten that  it  is  withal  the  most  catholic. 
No  sect  refuses  it,  and  none  can  monop- 
olize it.  The  Episcopalian  chants  it  in 
his  cathedral,  and  the  Nonconformist  in 
his  chapel;  the  Quaker  reads  it  in  his 
closet,  and  its  antiphonies  re-echo  in  the 
imperial  sanctuaries  of  Moscow  and  Vi- 
enna; and  just  as  the  hunted  Covenanters 
sang  it  on  the  hills  of  Scotland  two  hun- 
dred years  ago  the  Jew  still  sings  it  in 
the  synagogue  of  London.  Its  pages  have 
often  been  blotted  with  the  tears  of 
those  whom  others  have  decreed  hard 
and  cold,  and  whom  they  have  treated 
6  8] 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

with  suspicion  or  contempt.  Its  words 
have  gone  up  to  God  mingled  with  the 
sighs,  or  scarcely  uttered  in  the  heart- 
broken anguish  of  those  whom  Pharisees 
called  sinners,  of  those  whom  Christians 
denounced  as  heretics  or  infidels,  but  who 
loved  God  and  truth  above  all  things 
else — surely  it  is  holy  ground.  We  can 
not  pray  the  Psalms  without  realizing 
in  a  very  special  manner  the  communion 
of  saints,  the  oneness  of  the  Church 
militant  and  the  Church  triumphant. 
We  can  not  pray  the  Psalms  without 
having  our  hearts  opened,  our  affections 
enlarged,  or  our  thoughts  drawn  heaven- 
ward. He  who  can  pray  the  best  is 
nearest  to  God,  knows  most  of  the  spirit 
of  Christ,  is  ripest  for  heaven." 

If  the  people  have  hymn-books  pro- 
vided, it  is  unnecessary  for  the  minister 
to  read  the  hymn.  A  good  reader  may 
be  able  to  interpret  a  hymn  for  an 
audience  so  as  to  interest  the  worshipers 
in  the  singing.  We  have  heard  ministers 
announce  the  subject  of  the  hymn,  others 
82 


SERVICE  OF  PRAISE 

read  the  opening  line,  and  still  others 
announce  the  number  of  the  hymn;  the 
organist  plays  a  prelude,  then  the  minis- 
ter  makes    a    second    announcement    of 
the  number  and  reads  the  opening  lines, 
the  congregation  stands   and  takes  the 
first   note   with   the   organ.     The  main 
thing  is  that  the  people  shall  know  the 
number,   have  the  place  of  the  hymn, 
and  be  in  readiness  for  the  singing.    Shall 
all  the  verses  of  a  hymn  be  sung?     In 
general  they  should  be  all  sung  for  the 
reason  that  a  poem  or  hymn  should  be  a 
unit  of  thought.    We  should  avoid  break- 
ing the  hymn  in'^the  middle  or  eliminating 
in  various  parts.     The  congregation  that 
sang  for  the  writer  a  hymn  of  fourteen 
verses    made    itself    a    bit    monotonous. 
Those  selections  of  praise  that  lend  them- 
selves to  five  verses,  or  less,  are  usually 
best.    The  committees  on  Church  hym- 
nary  are  given  the  large  task  of  this  se- 
lection.    An   audience   will   sing  better, 
will  more  generally  take  part,  and  will 
give  better  heed  to  this  part  of  service 
83 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

if  they  are  standing.  There  is  no  good 
reason  why  a  congregation  should  remain 
seated  while  in  the  act  of  praise.  To 
see  an  audience  seated  during  the  singing 
of  the  Gloria  Patri  accuses  it  of  not 
knowing  the  import  of  the  message.  The 
very  least  a  worshiper  can  do  is  to  stand, 
if  he  can  not  sing,  while  a  congregation 
brings  its  "Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and 
to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  it 
was  in  the  beginning,  is  now,  and  ever 
shall  be,  world  without  end.    Amen." 

The  anthem  or  solo  has  a  recognized 
place  in  the  worship  of  the  American 
Churches.  This  adds  interest  to  the 
work  of  a  choir,  and  also  to  the  worship 
of  an  audience.  Our  special  offerings  of 
praise  would  not  bear  the  close  scrutiny 
of  the  critic.  It  is  not  uncommon  that 
one  hears  a  solo  that  expresses  sentiment 
that  would  not  stand  analysis  and  ex- 
planation to  an  audience  of  worshipers. 
The  best  the  genius  of  the  world  has 
produced  is  at  the  command  of  the 
Churches.  In  the  Presbyterian  Churches 
84 


SERVICE  OF  PRAISE 

of  Scotland  there  is  an  accredited  an- 
them-book which  is  furnished  the  con- 
gregation with  the  Church  hymnary  and 
the  Bible.  The  minister  announces  the 
anthem  as  he  does  the  hymn,  and  the 
people  stand  and  sing  with  the  choir.  It 
may  be  observed  that  congregational 
singing  has  reached  a  more  effective  place 
in  Scotland  than  in  America.  The  an- 
thems are  a  choice  collection  of  the  less 
difficult,  and  a  singing  congregation, 
with  the  aid  of  a  good  choir,  will  make  a 
creditable  presentation  of  the  best  known 
of  these  anthems.  There  are  always 
members  of  a  congregation  who  think 
they  are  able  to  sing  quite  as  well  as 
those  who  are  selected  for  the  choir,  and 
this  gives  them  their  opportunity.  Of 
those  audiences  observed,  it  would  seem 
that  they  take  about  the  part  in  singing 
the  anthem  that  an  American  audience 
takes  in  singing  the  hymns. 

An  appropriate  close  for  the  praise 
service  is  in  the  use  of  the  Doxology. 
Any    closing    hymn,    selected    in    long 
85 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

meter,  may  be  finished,  and  to  the  same 
tune  the  Doxology  may  be  effectively 
sung. 

The  question  of  congregational  sing- 
ing is  not  how  often  shall  we  sing,  or  how 
long,  or  when,  but  how.  When  we  think 
that  an  organist  may  interpret  a  hymn 
in  one  way,  the  director  of  music  another, 
and  the  audience  still  another,  we  are 
only  considering  the  possibilities  of  any 
of  our  hymn  singing.  The  markings  of 
hymns  for  the  purpose  of  a  like  in- 
terpretation by  the  organist,  choir,  and 
congregation  is  not  only  possible,  but 
practically  in  operation  with  a  great 
many  Churches,  and  it  would  be  to  the 
advantage  if  in  use  by  all.  Take  the 
markings  as  they  stand  in  a  Church 
hymnary:  f,  soft;  pp,  very  soft;  m, 
medium;  mp,  rather  soft;  mf,  rather 
loud ;  /,  loud ;  ff,  very  loud ;  c,  increasing 
in  loudness;  d,  diminishing  in  loudness. 
Apply  this  interpretation  to  the  well- 
known  hymn,  and  think  of  a  great 
86 


SERVICE  OF  PRAISE 

congregation  following  it  closely,  and 
you  have  what  actually  takes  place  in 
many  audiences  where  this  method  is 
used. 

Trip  1     Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee, 

Nearer  to  Thee! 
Even  though  it  be  a  cross 

That  raiseth  me, 
c  Still  all  my  song  shall  be 

Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee, 
d  Nearer  to  Thee! 

p  2     Though,  like  the  wanderer. 

The  sun  gone  down. 
Darkness  be  over  me. 
My  rest  a  stone, 

c  Yet  in  my  dreams  I  'd  be 

Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee, 

d  Nearer  to  Thee! 

m  3     There  let  the  way  appear 

Steps  unto  heaven; 
All  that  Thou  sendest  me 
In  mercy  given; 
c  Angels  to  beckon  me 

Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee, 
d  Nearer  to  Thee ! 

87 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

m/  4     Then,  with  my  waking  thoughts 

Bright  with  Thy  praise. 
Out  of  my  stony  griefs 
Bethel  I'll  raise; 

c  So  by  my  woes  to  be 

Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee, 

d  Nearer  to  Thee! 

/  5     Or  if,  on  joyful  wing 

Cleaving  the  sky. 
Sun,  moon,  and  stars  forgot. 

Upwards  I  fly, 
c  Still  all  my  song  shall  be. 

Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee, 
d  Nearer  to  Thee ! 


88 


WORSHIP  AND  THE  USE  OF  THE 
BIBLE 


WE  give  scant  courtesy  to  the 
Bible  in  our  Churches.  Many 
Churches  make  no  provision 
for  the  use  of  the  Bible  by  the  congrega- 
tion and  others  only  by  the  reading  of  a 
responsive  lesson.  No  one  would  presume 
to  eliminate  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures 
from  the  service  altogether,  but  what  do 
we  make  of  it?  Why  is  the  Bible  read  so 
indifferently  and  why  are  the  people  so 
inattentive  to  this  part  of  the  service? 
We  stop  the  entrance  of  the  tardy  wor- 
shipers at  the  door  if  the  minister  is 
speaking  to  God  in  prayer,  or  we  do  the 
same  if  a  solo  of  praise  is  being  sung. 
Are  these  of  more  consequence  than  when 
God  speaks  to  us?  It  is  not  to  be  ques- 
tioned that  all  interruptions  of  prayer 
and  praise  should  cease,  but  more  so 
should  this  be  true  when  "Thus  saith 
the  Lord"  is  being  listened  to.  There  is 
an  historical  succession  in  Bible  reading 
that  we  do  not  always  think  of.  Dean 
Stanley  notes  for  us  that,  "The  Bible 
91 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

and  the  reading  of  the  Bible  as  an  in- 
strument of  instruction  may  be  said  to 
have  been  begun  on  the  sunrise  of  the 
day  when  Ezra  unrolled  the  parchment 
scroll  of  the  Law.  It  was  a  new  thought 
that  the  divine  will  could  be  communi- 
cated by  a  dead  literature  as  well  as  by 
a  living  voice. "  The  Bible  places  in  our 
hands  a  literature  practically  as  varied 
as  the  world's  literature.  Its  experiences 
are  the  unfolding  of  all  those  of  the 
human  heart.  A  congregation  has,  as  a 
contribution  to  its  worship,  the  best  ex- 
pression for  any  and  every  mood  of  the 
soul  of  the  worshipers.  Neither  height 
nor  depth  nor  length  nor  breadth  of  Chris- 
tian experience  in  any  congregation  will 
find  itself  outside  the  bounds  of  the  Bible 
expression.  It  is  as  fresh  as  the  last  expe- 
rience of  man.  It  is  a  message  of  edifica- 
tion and  devotion.  How  many  ministers 
think  of  edifying  a  people,  and  how  many 
of  the  people  enter  into  an  act  of  devo- 
tion when  the  Bible  is  read.  The  con- 
gregation seems  more  to  submit  to  the 
92 


USE  OF  THE  BIBLE 

Scriptures  than  to  search  the  Scriptures. 
The  ministry  of  some  men  has  been  held 
in  grateful  memory  by  the  congregation 
because  the  reading  of  the  Bible  brought 
its  Author  nigh.  It  need  not  be  said  that 
such  reading  was  not  something  to  be 
gone  through.  It  was  not  a  portion  of 
Scriptures  selected  without  regard  to  re- 
lation or  context.  Men  like  these  did 
not  drone  it  through  as  though  there 
was  no  difference  in  meaning.  These 
men  recognized  the  Bible  as  a  channel 
by  which  the  Holy  Ghost  could  reach 
the  heart  of  man.  They  interpreted  in 
voice  and  manner  as  well  as  in  exposition. 
Every  man  will  read  inadequately  the 
Bible  sometimes  during  the  ministrations 
of  a  year,  but  this  shall  be  no  excuse  for 
carelessness  at  any  time. 

The  congregations  of  Scotland  have 
reached  an  ideal  use  of  the  Bible  as  an 
act  of  devotion.  Every  member  of  the 
congregation  is  provided  with  a  Bible. 
When  a  Scripture  lesson  is  announced 
the  worshiper  finds  the  portion  to  be 
93 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

read  and  follows  closely  to  the  end  of  the 
reading.  In  like  manner  the  text  is 
found.  The  minister  may  leave  the  text, 
never  to  return,  but  he  will  find  his  con- 
gregation at  the  place  ready  to  welcome 
him  should  he  come  back.  In  this  way 
the  congregation  saves  itself  not  only  from 
wrong  readings,  but  wrong  interpreta- 
tions as  well.  This  use  of  the  Bible  holds 
the  idea  of  the  congregation  remaining 
the  worshiping  unit  throughout  the  serv- 
ice. 

If  a  minister  is  prompted  to  attempt 
to  help  his  people  in  an  appreciation  of 
the  use  of  the  Bible  in  worship,  let  him 
prepare  his  Scripture  readings  with  the 
same  care  that  he  uses  in  preparation  of 
the  sermon,  and  then  give  a  short  in- 
terpretation of  Scripture  that  will  make 
an  audience  wish  for  a  book  in  hand. 
Expository  preaching  is  not  in  common 
use,  but  where  it  is  used  effectively  it 
has  a  tendency  to  make  the  people  wish 
for  a  Bible.  Children  delight  in  finding 
designated  readings  of  Scripture,  and  it 
94 


USE  OF  THE  BIBLE 

is  an  added  interest  to  their  worship  to 
find  the  place  and  follow  the  reading. 
Some  Churches  have  received  help  in  an 
emphasis  on  Bible  reading  by  having  a 
professional  reader  bring  his  services  to 
the  aid  of  the  Church  and  read  from  the 
Bible  for  the  evening  instead  of  the  use 
of  a  sermon. 

There  are  Churches  where  a  courteous 
act  is  shown  in  asking  an  aged  or  retired 
minister  or  Church  leader  to  read  the 
lesson  of  public  worship.  The  minister 
will  not  need  to  find  the  portion  of  the 
Bible  that  shall  be  read.  Often  the  at- 
tention of  a  congregation  will  be  called 
to  a  singularly  appropriate  message,  and 
with  the  new  voice  an  added  interest  is 
shown  in  the  lesson.  A  lesson  for  the 
Church  worship  need  not  always  be  used 
as  an  amplification  of  the  sermon. 

The  apt  quotation  of  Scripture  in 
public  address  has  been  noted  in  the  mes- 
sages of  every  great  orator.  At  a  time 
of  famine  in  the  English  Colonies,  John 
Bright  addressed  the  House  of  Commons 
95 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

and  climaxed  a  remarkable  speech  by 
the  quotation  from  Jeremiah  9:21,  *'  For 
death  is  come  up  into  our  windows,  it  is 
entered  into  our  palaces."  The  most 
intense,  inspirational,  and  immortal  mes- 
sage of  man  has  been  in  the  setting  of 
Bible  phraseology.  What  has  been  said 
for  the  individual  can  also  be  held  true 
of  the  congregation.  Not  a  remarkable 
occurrence  in  the  community,  the  coun- 
try, or  the  Church  should  escape  the  con- 
gregation in  expressing  herself  in  Scrip- 
tural message.  There  is  not  an  item  of 
praise,  hope,  sorrow,  repentance,  con- 
fession, need,  or  longing  that  can  not 
find  itself  expressed  in  some  Scriptural 
words.  There  is  not  a  mood  of  the  soul, 
or  motive  of  the  life,  that  can  be  so  well 
expressed  as  in  the  choice  selections  of 
Scripture  which  can  be  heightened  as  in 
no  other  way  by  the  communal  act  of  a 
congregation  in  their  public  utterance  or 
attention  to  the  same. 


96 


WORSHIP  AND  THE  COLLECTION 


Is  the  collection  an  act  of  worship? 
It    undoubtedly    has    been   so   con- 
sidered from  the  beginning    of    the 
revelation  of  God  to  His  people.     The 
will  of   God  was  always    divined  as  in 
some  way  placing  upon  man  the  duty  and 
privilege  of  giving  of  the  substance  given 
him.     The  act  of  the  offering  was  as- 
sociated with  the  other  acts  of  worship, 
and  was  intimately  associated  with  the 
temple    service.     The    regular    offerings 
taken  in  our  Church  worship  to-day  is 
the  equivalent  or  the  survival  of  the  gifts 
in  the  early  Church,  out  of  which  were 
taken  the  bread  and  wine  for  the  Lord's 
Supper  and  the  food  for  the  love-feast. 
That   our   offerings   are   not   an   act   of 
worship   to   many   Christians   would   be 
admitted.     To  give  a  piece  of  silver  or 
copper  may  have  no  more  element  of 
worship  in  it  than  the  giving  of  a  half 
an  hour  of  time  to  a  service  in  which  we 
have  no  particular  interest.    It  only  has 
value  as  an  act  of  worship  when  per- 
99 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

formed  in  the  spirit  of  an  act  of  wor- 
ship. 

A  parallel  is  not  overdrawn  between 
prayer  and  the  collection.  No  one  ques- 
tions the  former — why,  then,  the  latter.^ 
One  is  a  communion  and  the  other  a  con- 
tribution. One  is  petition  and  praise, 
the  other  is  gift  and  gratitude.  One  can 
no  more  be  eliminated  from  our  personal 
acts  of  worship  than  can  the  other.  An 
unthinking  prayer  and  an  unthinking 
gift  will  neither  bring  much  of  spiritual 
returns.  To  be  a  recipient  of  spiritual 
favor  a  man  must  both  pay  and  pray. 

As  an  act  of  worship  the  making  of  an 
offering  is  as  incumbent  upon  the  minister 
as  upon  the  member.  As  an  example  in 
liberality  the  minister's  offering  will  al- 
ways be  significant.  A  minister  will  be 
little  more  likely  to  indoctrinate  a  con- 
gregation with  the  spirit  and  spiritual 
significance  of  liberality  and  hold  himself 
from  the  act,  than  he  will  to  teach  and  lead 
to  a  recognition  of  the  spiritual  in  prayer, 
and  refrain  from  praying.  The  disciples, 
100 


COLLECTION 

on  their  own  account,  ask  Jesus  to  teach 
them  to  pray,  but  Jesus,  on  His  own 
account,  sat  over  against  the  treasury 
to  see  how  the  people  pay.  It  was  not 
the  concern  so  much  as  to  the  amount 
but  the  "how"  that  seemed  to  take  the 
attention  of  Jesus.  It  was  the  act  of 
worship  with  which  the  collection  was 
associated  that  concerned  Jesus  then,  as 
it  is  the  act  of  worship  with  which  our 
offerings  are  associated  that  concern 
Jesus  now.  St.  Paul  has  not  written  at 
random,  but  the  connection  he  makes 
in  thought  with  the  collection  is  not 
pleasing  to  those  who  make  little  of  it. 
St.  Paul  has  held  the  collection  to  a  high 
place  not  only  in  the  theory  and  practice 
of  "storing"  and  receiving,  but  he  swings 
it  into  the  highest  place  in  the  outline 
of  his  thought  and  practice  of  a  Christian 
life.  It  is  not  a  beggared  theme,  but  after 
the  mighty  world  theme  of  the  Resur- 
rection St.  Paul  brings  us  to  the  mes- 
sage, "Now  concerning  the  collection 
for  the  saints,  as  I  have  given  order  to 
101 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

the  Churches  of  Galatia,  even  so  do  ye." 
Let  no  man  apologize  for  the  collection, 
and  the  larger  act  of  worship  we  make 
it  the  better.  As  a  general  rule,  no 
Church  has  done  its  duty  or  justice  to 
the  cause  of  Christ,  or  character  of  its 
members,  until  it  has  been  so  persistent 
in  precept  and  example  as  to  bring  an 
offering  with  every  worshiping  member 
of  the  congregation.  This  offering  should 
apply  to  both  diets  of  worship.  The 
parents  should  not  deprive  the  child  of 
an  act  of  worship  that  is  so  essential  to 
both  the  child  and  the  Church.  A  father 
is  often  heard  declare  that  he  gives 
for  all  the  members  of  his  family.  He 
may  furnish  the  money,  but  the  mem- 
bers of  the  family  should  not  be  ignored 
in  making  the  offering.  It  might  be  asked, 
Why  shall  not  the  father  assume  still 
other  privileges  of  the  children,  and  thus 
go  to  Church  for  them  or  do  the  praying 
for  all.^  If  the  getting  of  money  were  the 
sole  consideration,  then  it  would  not  mat- 
ter so  much  from  whom  it  might  be  re- 
102 


COLLECTION 

ceived.  A  Church  collection  is  not  the 
same  as  taking  a  collection  for  the 
purchase  of  a  park  or  the  building  of  a 
fountain.  The  worshiping  act  is  the 
first  consideration  in  the  Church  collec- 
tion. 

It  is  doubtful  if  Protestantism  pre- 
sents another  example  of  universal  giving 
on  the  part  of  worshipers  as  she  does 
in  Scotland.  Pew  rent  is  the  prevailing 
custom,  but  besides  the  rents  for  pews  a 
collection  is  always  taken.  In  the  morn- 
ing service  a  silver  offering  will  be  far  in 
excess  of  copper,  while  in  most  Churches 
in  the  evening  the  order  of  silver  and  cop- 
per is  reversed.  It  is  well  understood 
that  every  person  entering  the  room  will 
give  something.  The  child  gives  as  in- 
variably as  does  the  parent.  By  investi- 
gation I  have  found  that  people  will 
stay  from  a  service  if  they  have  not  an 
offering  to  make.  This  reluctance  does 
not  arise  from  the  fact  of  any  pressure 
being  brought  to  bear  upon  the  attendants 
other  than  their  own  moral  conviction 
103 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

that  it  is  not  right  to  enter  the  Lord's 
worship  without  some  kind  of  an  offering 
with  which  to  come.  Years  of  training 
in  precept  and  example  have  created  this 
conviction.  In  our  land  the  minister  and 
his  oflScials  have  not  the  simple  task  of 
getting  enough  money  to  pay  the  bills 
of  a  Church,  but  have  the  farther  and 
more  important  work  of  inculcating  the 
spirit  of  liberality  in  the  Churches.  To 
what  purpose  is  all  our  effort  if  we  are 
not  making  permanent  progress.^  The 
only  worthy  ideal  is  for  the  congregation 
to  enlarge  the  measure  of  her  liberality 
and  consider  her  offerings  as  unto  God. 
A  minister  jokes  about  the  collection  to 
the  injury  of  his  Church.  The  amusing 
incidents,  that  are  too  true,  in  associa- 
tion with  the  collection  are  often  a 
temptation  to  a  minister  that  he  may  stir 
the  mind  of  his  people,  but  it  will  be 
better,  if  there  is  need  of  exhortation, 
that  he  "shall  be  but  the  plain  man  and 
speak  right  on."  The  sooner  we  take 
the  collection  in  our  Churches  from  its 
104 


COLLECTION 

mendicant  position  the  better  will  it  be 
for  alL    That  salvation  is  free  is  a  funda- 
mental  of   our   faith,    but   that   a   man 
severs  himself  from  salvation  by  selfishly 
holding  his  substance  is  undoubted.    The 
offerings  we  bring  help  us  to  "Sacrifice 
the  world's  god  at  the  Cross  of  the  Re- 
deemer."     Men    of    wealth    or    men    of 
business  interests  think  it  makes  little, 
if  any,  difference  how  they  contribute  so 
long  as  they  give  a  just  share  to  the  ex- 
penses of  the  Church.     They  are  to  be 
reminded   again   that   it   is   the    "how" 
rather  than  the  "how  much"  that  in- 
terested Jesus.     No  man  is  rich  enough 
in  substance  or  salvation  that  he  may 
preclude  the  holy  influence  which  affects 
his  life  in  this  act  of  holy  service  regularly 
done.     It  not  only  has  the  value  of  an 
act  of  duty,  but  this  regular  giving  be- 
comes  the  constant  barrier  man  needs 
against  selfishness,  pride,  and  undue  re- 
gard for  material  things.     It  is  rightly 
defined    as,    "The   art    of   giving   effect 
to   love."      A    true    affection   is    always 
105 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

strengthened  by  giving  large  gifts  to  the 
object  of  that  affection.  The  affection 
in  our  rehgion  once  begun  will  find  a 
strengthening  influence  in  the  contin- 
uous offerings  we  make  for  this  affection. 
The  limits  of  our  topic  do  not  require 
a  discussion  of  the  tithe  or  the  conscience 
that  determines  the  proportion  of  sub- 
stance that  should  be  dedicated,  but 
rather  the  system  of  gathering  that 
which  has  been  set  apart,  and  makes  it  an 
act  of  worship.  The  system  of  Church 
finance  can  no  more  be  set  aside  from  its 
Scriptural  requirements  than  can  our 
systems  of  faith.  The  system  stated  by 
St.  Paul  in  1  Corinthians,  the  sixteenth 
chapter,  is,  "Now  concerning  the  col- 
lection for  the  saints,  as  I  have  given 
order  to  the  Churches  of  Galatia,  even 
so  do  ye.  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week 
let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store, 
as  God  hath  prospered  him,  that  there 
be  no  gatherings  when  I  come.  And 
when  I  come,  whomsoever  ye  shall  ap- 
prove by  your  letters,  them  will  I  send 
106 


COLLECTION 

to  bring  your  gift  unto  Jerusalem."  The 
items  set  out  in  this  statement  are: 
The  time  designated  for  the  offering — 
"the  first  day  of  the  week;"  the  univer- 
sality of  the  givers — "every  one  of  you;" 
the  method — "in  store;"  the  amount — 
"as  God  hath  prospered  him;"  oversight 
of  the  gifts — "whomsoever  ye  shall  ap- 
prove." The  practical  import  of  this 
must  be  that  as  God  has  prospered  us 
we  are  to  lay  by  in  store,  and  on  Sunday 
make  our  offering,  to  be  in  charge  of 
those  approved  by  the  congregation.  In 
some  Churches  the  provision  made  in 
the  best  judgment  of  those  having  ap- 
proved oversight  is  in  having  at  the 
entrance  to  the  church  certain  recep- 
tacles into  which  the  congregation  make 
an  offering  on  entrance  to  the  place  of 
worship.  As  one  expressed  it,  "We  be- 
gin with  an  act  of  worship  as  we  enter 
the  door  of  the  church."  A  more  com- 
mon way  is  in  passing  plates,  or  recep- 
tacles, among  the  people,  in  which  they 
place  their  offerings.  To  challenge  the 
107 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

congregation  to  the  spiritual  significance 
of  the  act,  a  prayer  is  offered  by  the  min- 
ister while  the  collectors  are  standing 
at  the  chancel  before  they  have  taken 
the  offerings,  or  a  prayer  of  thanksgiving 
when  they  have  returned  from  receiving 
them.  It  is  not  a  task  that  will  be  recog- 
nized as  belonging  to  a  child.  It  is  a  work 
for  men,  approved  by  the  Church,  and 
examples  of  the  thing  they  are  set  to  do. 
The  offering  stands  on  its  own  merits 
and  needs  no  solo  or  even  an  organ 
number  to  increase  its  interest.  A  con- 
gregation can  well  sit  in  quiet,  thought- 
ful contemplation  of  ''The  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that,  though  He  was 
rich,  yet  for  your  sakes  He  became  poor, 
that  ye,  through  His  poverty,  might 
become  rich."  If  experience  is  to  be  a  test, 
then  the  offering  as  an  act  of  consecutive 
worship  stands  the  test,  for  those  who 
have  been  most  conscientious  in  their 
efforts  to  measure  up  to  the  command 
have  been  most  hearty  in  their  praise 
of  the  religious  benefits  derived.  "He 
108 


COLLECTION 

that  watcheth  providence  will  never  want 
a  providence  to  watch."  There  are  few 
acts  of  a  devout  soul  that  will  give 
greater  and  more  satisfactory  returns 
than  the  contemplation  of  a  gracious 
providence  meeting  the  act  of  gracious- 
ness  in  a  believing  Christian. 


109 


WORSHIP  AND   CHURCH  ARCHI- 
TECTURE 


FEAR  and  force  are  not  the  only 
ways  of  accounting  for  the  at- 
tendance in  large  numbers,  by 
both  rich  and  poor,  learned  and  ignorant, 
upon  the  worship  of  certain  Churches. 
There  is  that  in  human  nature  that  is  ap- 
pealed to  by  the  beautiful,  the  sublime, 
and  the  mysterious.  A  beautiful  temple 
with  an  inspiring  service  of  worship  has 
compelling  power.  The  record  of  the 
world's  worship  is  sufficient  testimony  as 
to  the  drawing  power  of  the  elements 
above  noted.  If  this  has  been  accom- 
plished where  the  purpose  of  worship  has 
been  entirely  missed,  why,  then,  shall 
these  very  elements,  purified  by  the  holy 
faith  of  the  Christian  religion,  be  less 
effective?  Has  Protestant  America  beau- 
tiful churches.^  She  has,  and  vast  sums 
of  money  have  been  used  in  their  erec- 
tion. We  pride  ourselves  in  our  willing- 
ness to  give  to  church  erection.  Some 
of  our  churches  are  beautiful,  others  are 
questioned  from  any  ideals  of  beauty, 
8  113 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

and  still  others  may  be  questioned  as  to 
whether  they  serve  any  of  the  real  pur- 
poses of  worship.  Many  an  American 
church  would  be  guessed  as  being  a 
library,  some  would  make  good  opera 
houses,  and  others  remain  unclassified 
from  any  standpoint  of  ecclesiastical 
architecture.  A  combination  of  Roman- 
esque fronts  and  Gothic  rears  is  not 
uncommon.  It  is  not  so  much  a  problem 
of  combinations  as  it  is  a  problem  of 
convenience.  With  the  vast  amount  of 
money  expended  we  ought  to  get  better 
returns.  It  is  not  so  much  that  we 
do  not  give  as  it  is  that  we  do  not 
get. 

The  matter  of  church  building  in 
America  has  long  been  left  to  the  fancy 
of  men,  well-meaning,  without  doubt, 
but  unfitted  for  their  tasks.  The  most 
of  our  churches  have  been  built  under  the 
ministerial  care  of  comparatively  young 
men.  A  young  minister  wants  to  work 
with  a  congregation  in  building  a  church. 
The  limitations  of  small  funds  and  large 
114 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE 

demands  are  the  first  consideration.  To 
whom  shall  he  turn,  with  his  building 
committee,  for  the  plans  of  the  proposed 
church?  To  a  local  architect,  because 
he  dare  not  offend  a  member  of  his  Church 
in  a  time  like  this.  The  architect  may 
not  have  any  qualification  for  the  task 
of  church  building  other  than  that  arising 
from  a  general  knowledge  of  plans  for 
private  or  public  buildings.  If  the  young 
minister  have  a  sense  of  fitness  in  church 
architecture  he  may  be  able  to  get  a 
few  things  helpful  in  a  place  of  worship. 
If  the  building  is  more  pretentious,  the 
difficulties  become  more  prodigious.  The 
secret  lament  of  every  minister  after  he 
has  been  useful  in  church  building  enter- 
prises is  that  his  finished  product  is  more 
often  a  building  than  a  church.  Some- 
times a  temple  of  mirth  rather  than 
a  temple  of  worship.  The  American 
churches  have  this  recommendation — 
that  they  are  not  built  to  last  long.  The 
future  church  building  is  sure  to  take 
on  more  and  more  the  elements  of  true 
115 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

church  architecture.  They  will  cease  to 
be  the  exponents  of  every  architect  who 
has  a  fancy,  or  ministers  with  new  fea- 
tures to  exploit,  or  congregations  with  a 
fad  they  would  fix  upon  a  community. 
Some  countries  have  a  society,  composed 
of  men  of  various  Churches,  with  the 
purpose  of  studying  church  architecture. 
One  such  organization  stated  its  purpose 
as  a  study  of  "The  principles  of  Christian 
worship,  and  of  the  church  architecture 
and  allied  acts  which  minister  thereto." 
Monthly  meetings  are  held,  papers  are 
presented,  visits  are  made  to  places  of 
Church  interest,  and  in  a  restricted  way 
the  society  held  itself  in  readiness  to 
assist  those  contemplating  building  or 
those  intending  the  restoring  of  build- 
ings. The  transactions  are  published, 
and  an  addition  is  made  in  permanent 
form  to  our  knowledge  of  church  archi- 
tecture and  kindred  subjects.  If  such 
an  organization  finds  for  itself  an  ac- 
ceptable place  where  church  architecture 
is  largely  established,  what  could  it  not 
116 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE 

do  for  a  changing  view  of  church  archi- 
tecture? 

In  spite  of  all  diligence  novelty  will  be 
introduced  into  the  building  of  churches. 
A  church — that  had  more  the  suggestion 
of  a  hunting  lodge  than  a  place  of  worship 
— sprang  up  in  a  large  city  where  a  close 
association  to  an  Ecclesiological  Society 
was  sustained. 

Many  a  country  church  is  comfortless 
and  coarsely  furnished.  A  single  mem- 
ber, who  more  than  likely  rides  to  the 
service  in  his  automobile  and  has  the 
comforts  and  conveniences  of  a  modern 
home,  could  well  nigh  immortalize  him- 
self in  the  community  if  he  would  un- 
ostentatiously expend  a  couple  of  hun- 
dred dollars  on  a  judicious  renovation 
of  his  country  place  of  worship.  If  this 
one,  with  others,  were  to  go  far  enough 
to  make  the  country  church  attractive, 
the  young  people  of  the  community  could 
more  easily  be  held  to  the  Church  and 
the  religious  life.  The  country  church  is 
usually  of  one  room,  and  should  conform 
117 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

to  the  usual  plan  of  building  for  the  pur- 
poses of  worship.  It  may  have  the  neces- 
sities, beauty,  and  suggestiveness  of  any 
church.  It  is  in  the  very  realm  of  the 
possible  that  a  country  church,  from  the 
very  fact  that  it  is  small,  shall  have  more 
elements  of  beauty  and  comfort  than 
can  be  found  in  the  city  church.  Rosslyn 
Chapel  has  stood  for  nearly  five  hundred 
years  as  a  marvel  of  beauty,  and  though 
small,  it  makes  the  appeal  that  is  equaled 
by  few,  if  any,  of  the  cathedrals  of  the 
world.  Thus  it  seems  possible  that  a 
country  church  should  stand  in  favorable 
comparison  with  any  of  the  pretentious 
churches  of  our  cities. 

In  the  evolution  of  the  present-day 
preacher  and  congregation  can  be  seen 
the  evolution  of  church  architecture.  In 
medieval  days  the  churches  had  to  take 
account  of  a  liturgical  service,  and  were 
thus  built.  In  our  own  country  there 
came  the  day  of  the  great  preacher — 
the  church  lost  much  of  that  which  was 
real  churchly  and  became  a  hall,  a  plat- 
118 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE 

form.  A  place  was  sought  for  that  would 
conform  to  the  needs  of  a  man  of  elo- 
quence and  with  a  seating  capacity  for  a 
large  audience.  The  people  need  take 
little,  if  any,  part  in  the  service,  and 
there  was  no  need  to  be  particular  about 
a  place  for  a  Bible,  a  hymn-book,  a  choir, 
or  an  organ.  These  were  reckoned  as 
only  minor  accessories.  The  center  of 
all  the  community's  religious  interest 
was  in  the  man  who  stood  on  the  plat- 
form. We  are  dull  indeed  if  we  do  not 
discover  a  radical  change  in  our  present 
theory  of  worship.  We  are  not  reverting 
back  to  medievalism,  but  evolving  to  the 
place  where  the  congregation  is  the  unit 
rather  than  the  priest  of  Romanism  or 
the  preacher  in  Protestantism. 

In  a  consideration  of  the  modern 
church,  with  its  various  rooms  and  ap- 
pliances for  work,  we  would  eliminate 
all  other  parts  of  the  building  than  the 
auditorium,  or  that  part  of  the  building 
in  which  the  two  public  services  of  wor- 
ship are  held  upon  the  Sabbath.  The 
119 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

modern  church  should  have  every  ap- 
pliance for  effectiveness  In  what  is  known 
as  the  work  of  the  Church,  but  the  audi- 
torium should  be  held  to  itself  as  a  place 
for  the  worship  of  the  congregation. 
Sunday  school  children  are  better  pre- 
pared for  the  worship  of  the  Church  if 
they  have  not  been  for  the  Sunday  school 
in  the  church  auditorium.  The  reverence 
for  both  place  and  service  of  worship  is 
lessened  by  the  liberties  of  a  Sunday 
school.  Rooms  that  are  separated  from 
the  auditorium  will  answer  best  the  pur- 
poses for  which  they  are  to  be  used  by 
the  congregation.  Our  modern  church, 
with  all  its  appointments,  is  similar  to 
that  of  the  early  day,  when  it  was 
known  as  the  Domus  Ecclesias,  which 
afterwards  became  the  Domus  Dei — L  e.y 
the  place  where  Christians  met  the  Lord. 
This  idea  should  be  maintained  to-day  if 
we  are  to  make  for  the  highest  religious 
culture  of  the  people.  Everything  about 
the  place  of  worship  should  be  in  keeping 
120 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE 

with  the  holy  purpose  for  which  it  was 
dedicated. 

The  main  things  about  a  church  that 
concern  this  discussion  are  the  heat, 
light,  seats,  pulpit,  platforms,  choir,  or- 
gan, ventilation,  and  acoustics.  The  im- 
proper heating  and  ventilation  of  churches 
has  killed  many  sermons,  if  not  people. 
Whether  natural  or  artificial  means  of 
ventilation  shall  be  used  need  not  con- 
cern us,  for  to  most  of  the  congregations 
to  whom  this  word  may  come  it  will  of 
necessity  mean  natural  rather  than  arti- 
ficial. In  some  countries  sixty  degrees  is 
considered  quite  warm  enough  for  a  room 
at  the  beginning  of  a  service.  Probably 
sixty-five  degrees  would  come  nearer  the 
demands  of  an  American  audience.  If 
a  room  has  not  been  occupied  for  a  week 
in  cold  weather  it  may  be  possible  to 
get  the  temperature  of  sixty-five  de- 
grees, and  yet,  with  cold  seats  and 
floors,  have  a  very  uncomfortable  room 
for  worship.  People  will  not  keep  the 
121 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

mind  concentrated  upon  worship  and  be 
uncomfortable  of  body.  A  building  too 
warm  will  do  as  much  violence  to  wor- 
ship as  though  it  were  too  cold.  The 
question  of  either  heat  or  cold  is  minor 
when  compared  with  that  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  air.  Multitudes  of  people 
can  not  understand  what  is  the  trouble 
with  their  worship.  Sometimes  people 
blame  themselves  for  being  dull,  more 
often  they  blame  the  preacher,  when  in 
reality  it  is  neither.  A  minister  of  any 
sensitiveness  can  not  overcome  the  de- 
pression upon  himself  or  the  unfailing 
signs  of  the  depression  on  his  audience 
caused  by  an  impure  atmosphere.  His 
own  mental  faculties  are  oppressed,  and 
in  sheer  exhaustion  people  and  preacher 
go  from  a  service  of  worship  that  was 
meant  to  be  an  exhilaration.  The  country 
church  is  apt  to  be  more  at  fault  here 
than  is  the  town  or  city  where  men  are 
expected  to  be  giving  some  attention 
to  ventilation.  If  artificial  ventilation  is 
not  provided,  or  a  natural  system  proves 
122 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE 

insufficient,  there  remains  but  one  thing 
for  the  minister  to  do,  and  that  is  to 
superintend  the  only  way  open  to  him. 
His  ushers  can  be  instructed  to  open  all 
the  windows  during  the  singing  of  the 
hymn  just  preceding  the  sermon.  People 
standing  and  singing  are  in  no  danger  of 
taking  a  cold.  It  may  be  said  this  boon 
will  not  come  to  a  congregation  by  a 
single  request  for  the  usher  to  do  the 
acts  necessary.  Some  of  the  best  men 
have  proven  the  most  careless  as  to  the 
condition  of  the  place  of  worship.  In 
the  construction  of  a  church  sufficient 
ventilation  should  be  included  so  as  to 
give  an  entire  change  of  air  repeatedly 
during  the  hour.  Ceiling  ventilators  or 
chimneys  can  be  depended  upon  if  these 
are  kept  open.  Twelve  out  of  twenty 
congregations  will  not  be  a  high  propor- 
tion found  by  the  general  visitors  that 
are  suffering  from  the  effects  of  ill-venti- 
lated rooms.  The  one  condition  of  re- 
taining a  janitor  should  be  that  he  ful- 
fill a  contract  that  a  church  is  thoroughly 
123 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

ventilated  before  and  after  each  service. 
Many  janitors  can  not  let  a  congregation 
pass  the  threshold  of  the  church  door 
before  they  have  secured  every  window 
and  door,  or  other  place  of  possible  ven- 
tilation. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  discuss 
the  kinds  of  heating  apparatus  used  in 
churches.  The  churches  reaching  good 
results  are  those  having  the  steam  or  hot 
water  pipes  placed  in  the  floor.  This  adds 
to  the  looks  of  a  building  more  than  the 
many  radiators,  often  seen.  Where  the 
floor  is  bowled  the  arrangement  of  pipes 
in  the  floor  space  is  exceptionally  success- 
ful, for  it  is  well  understood  the  floor 
can  not  be  well  heated  unless  the  heat 
shall  come  from  the  lowest  point.  Fur- 
nace heat  must  be  so  located  that  the 
contact  shall  be  made  at  the  lowest 
point  of  the  room.  The  avoidance  of 
strong  drafts  has  much  to  do  with  heat- 
ing a  building.  Churches  have  tolerated 
drafts  for  years  that  were  caused  by  the 
opening  of  doors,  and  never  seem  to  have 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE 

discovered  that  a  heavy  curtain  placed 
at  the  entrances,  or  at  the  rear  seats,  as 
the  case  might  be,  would  obviate  a  large 
part  of  the  difficulty.  Some  country 
churches  have  a  double  entrance  at  the 
rear,  and  when  the  door  is  opened  a 
strong  draft  can  make  itself  felt  under 
the  seats  the  entire  distance  across  the 
room.  This  is  easily  and  inexpensively 
avoided  by  putting  a  protecting  board 
at  the  rear  seats  and  under,  thus  reliev- 
ing a  difficulty. 

The  question  of  light  in  a  church  is 
not  so  easily  settled  as  some  complacently 
think.  The  windows  of  a  church  are  not 
only  for  the  purpose  of  admitting  light, 
but  have  a  real  significance  in  teaching 
truth  and  making  religious  impressions. 
It  is  not  the  desire  to  make  much  of  the 
soft  and  mellow  light  of  religious  worship, 
but  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  an 
appreciative  soul  will  find  the  attitude 
toward  divine  worship  heightened  by  a 
contemplation  of  the  beautiful  art  works 
of  the  churches  and  cathedrals  of  the 
125 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

world.  The  representations  of  Christ  in 
art  will  always  serve  the  mind  and  heart 
for  good.  Messages  of  Scripture  are  com- 
mon in  the  window  decoration,  and  the 
message  in  this  unique  setting  will  have 
more  influence  on  the  mind  of  the  be- 
holder than  will  the  spoken  word  of  the 
sermon.  The  question  as  to  the  designs 
in  windows  may  not  be  amiss.  A  cheap 
figure  over  against  a  mechanical  design 
should  be  decided  in  favor  of  the  latter, 
which  is  not  always  done.  The  figures, 
if  worthy  as  works  of  art,  have  to  be 
selected  with  care  as  to  the  choosing  of 
subjects.  Is  it  wise  to  put  before  a 
worshiping  congregation  any  other  than 
Scriptural  scenes?  We  doubt  it.  The 
place  that  must  be  sacredly  guarded  as 
a  house  of  worship  should  not  give  a 
preference  for  even  patriotic  subjects 
over  Scriptural.  Fraternal  organizations 
often  wish  to  see  their  emblems  put  in 
conspicuous  places,  and  thus  give  for  me- 
morials in  the  churches.  It  may  do  for 
State  churches  or  cathedrals  to  do  honor 
126 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE 

to  the  nation's  dead  by  building  monu- 
ments or  placing  tablets  in  the  church 
building,  but  to  hold  to  the  purpose  for 
which  our  buildings  are  dedicated  we  may- 
well  declare  against  it.  For  a  like  pur- 
pose we  object  to  the  placing  of  the  em- 
blems of  any  order  in  church  windows. 
Our  chief  honor  in  this  world  might  be 
in  worthily  wearing  one  of  these  emblems 
and  our  mightiest  task  in  defending  the 
principles  for  which  it  stands,  yet,  withal, 
it  shall  have  no  place  in  the  worship  of 
the  Lord  with  the  undivided  heart. 
When  we  see  some  modern  skylight 
effects  which  are  confidentally  proclaimed 
as  having  supplanted  the  window,  we 
may  well  listen  to  the  pronouncement. 
We  need  have  no  fear  that  our  innovations 
shall  supplant  the  cathedrals  of  the  world 
that  have  created  the  standard  of  the 
thousand  years  gone  by  and  bid  fair  to 
stand  the  thousand  years  after  our  mod- 
ern fancy  shall  have  passed  away.  We 
give  no  attention  to  artificial  light  other 
than  to  the  effects  produced.  A  feeling 
127 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

of  depression  not  easily  gotten  rid  of  may 
be  created  on  coming  into  a  poorly-lighted 
room.  To  economize  on  light  is  to  little 
advantage  and  often  at  great  loss.  The 
young  people  of  a  Church  will  not  enter 
heartily  into  the  service  of  worship  in  a 
church  that  is  dark  and  dingy.  To  avoid 
creating  an  ill  effect  while  the  people  are 
gathering,  and  in  the  congregational 
service  of  worship,  let  there  be  plenty  of 
light.  If  there  is  any  place  where  econ- 
omy in  the  use  of  light  can  be  practiced 
it  is  during  the  sermon.  People  need  not 
be  expected  to  take  part  in  singing  or 
reading  if  the  room  is  so  ill-lighted  they 
are  unable  to  see  to  sing  or  read.  It 
is  not  uncommon  to  have  the  lights 
about  the  pulpit  and  choir  so  arranged 
that  it  is  quite  impossible  to  see  the  min- 
ister or,  if  looking,  one  becomes  nearly 
blinded.  Considerable  pains  will  be  taken 
to  make  it  possible  to  see  the  face  of  an 
actor  or  a  singer  but  there  is  a  seeming 
f orgetf ulness  that  there  is  any  advantage 
in  seeing  the  face  of  the  minister.  It  is  an 
US 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE 

unresponsive  face  that  will  not  convey 
some  meaning  in  the  proclamation  of  the 
evangel.     If  the  people  keep  their  mes- 
senger in  the  dark  they  create  the  pos- 
sibihty  of  losing  part  of  the  message  in 
the   dark.      A   concealed   light   of   good 
brilliancy  on  its  own  chandelier  above  the 
minister's  desk  will  be  an  advantage  to 
the  minister,   that  he  shall  not  do  his 
task  in  the  dark,  and  will  light  his  face 
that  the  people  may  get  something  of 
the  effect  the  message  is  making  upon  the 
preacher,  and  a  beautiful  piece  of  furni- 
ture is  provided  in  the  furnishings  of  the 
church.     If  the  minister  should  be  seen 
at  night  he  should  also  be  seen  during 
the  worship  of  the  day.    The  high  pulpit 
of  an  early  day  in  our  own  history,  and 
that  of  the  present  in  many  countries, 
may  be  too  high,  but  it  is  at  the  ex- 
treme in  height  as  our  average  platform 
is  an  extreme  in  being  too  low.     Why  a 
platform   or   pulpit   shall   not   be   made 
high  enough  for  a  minister  to  be  seen  in 
it  from  any  part  of  the  room  is  an  un- 
9  U9 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

answered  question.  In  this  day,  when 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  adjust  the  seat- 
ing of  a  large  audience  without  preclud- 
ing some  from  seeing,  would  it  not  be 
reasonable  to  raise  the  minister  so  all 
could  see?  We  think  so.  We  will  add 
to  our  privilege  of  Church  worship  when 
we  so  elevate  the  minister  that  he  can 
be  seen.  We  have  ridiculed  the  apparel  of 
a  larger  part  of  our  congregation  long 
enough.  Let  us  correct  that  which  need 
not  depend  upon  ridicule,  but  reason, 
and  raise  our  pulpits. 

American  churches  have  the  most 
beautiful  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 
unserviceable  seats  in  the  world.  Our 
pews  are  a  work  of  art  when  compared 
to  the  seemingly  rude  benches  of  the 
cathedrals  of  the  Old  World.  They  are 
usually  comfortable  to  sit  in,  and  then 
all  is  said.  There  is  an  apology  for  a 
book-rack.  Provision  is  not  often  made 
for  a  place  to  put  one's  hat,  unless  he 
use  the  floor.  At  the  end  of  each  pew 
there  should  be  an  umbrella  holder  with 
130 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE 

a  drip,  thus  making  it  unnecessary  to 
hold  a  wet  umbrella  throughout  a  service 
or  put  it  upon  the  floor,  where  little  lakes 
are  left  upon  the  carpet.  Provision 
should  be  made  in  seating  a  church  for 
every  person  to  keep  a  Bible  and  a 
hymn-book.  If  curved  seats  are  used, 
then  put  the  receptacle  under  the  seat 
in  front.  One  good  reason  our  people  do 
not  have  Bibles  with  them  in  worship  is 
because  there  is  no  place  to  keep  them. 
One  must  hold  the  book  in  hand  or 
place  it  in  the  pew.  Hymn-books  are 
short-lived  for  a  like  want  of  adequate 
place  to  keep  them.  It  is  taken  for 
granted  that  every  committee  having  to 
select  seats  for  a  church  building  are 
intent  and  specific  in  their  demands  as 
to  the  needs  of  the  congregation,  but 
when  the  work  is  done  the  seats  are  of 
the  stock  kind,  and  all  the  conveniences 
are  sacrificed  to  a  particularly  beautiful 
carved  end  that  will  stand  good  chances 
in  soon  revealing  of  what  it  has  been 
made.  Some  churches  are  now  leaving 
131 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

out  the  curved  pew  altogether  to  make 
way  for  the  more  serviceable,  if  less 
beautiful,  straight  pew.  In  this  plan 
the  book-rack  is  made  by  putting  a 
shelf  the  entire  length  of  the  pew,  to  the 
top  and  on  the  back.  This  shelf  is  placed 
at  an  angle,  so  that  a  book  resting  open 
upon  it  will  be  in  good  direction  from 
the  eye  to  read  easily.  This  shelf  is  six 
or  eight  inches  wide.  Under  the  inclined 
shelf  is  the  permanent  place  for  books. 
It  is  two  or  three  inches  under  the  in- 
clined shelf,  and  is  usually  left  open; 
but  in  places  of  rented  pews  is  often 
closed  and  furnished  with  a  lock.  The 
book-rest  for  the  Bible  while  reading,  or 
the  hymn-book  while  singing,  has  the 
added  value  of  furnishing  an  acceptable 
attitude  while  in  prayer.  Where  we 
have  neither  kneeling  benches  nor  arm- 
rests we  have  developed  an  indifferent 
attitude  in  our  devotions,  if  it  can  be 
called  a  change  of  attitude  at  all.  It 
comes  to  be  very  easy  and  natural  for 
132 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE 

the  worshiper,  when  entering  the  pew, 
to  lean  forward  for  the  essential  moment 
of  silent  prayer.  Any  device  that  will 
lend  itself  naturally  to  an  attitude  of 
devotion  for  an  entire  congregation  should 
be  sought  after.  This  will  come  as  nearly 
to  suggesting  the  attitude  as  an  inanimate 
object  can.  Some  churches  and  chapels 
are  seated  with  chairs.  In  Birmingham, 
England,  is  a  beautifully  seated  house  of 
worship  which  has  large,  well-cushioned 
chairs,  each  separate  from  the  other. 
Under  the  seat  of  each  chair  is  a  shelf, 
guarded  by  a  lid,  and  here  are  kept  the 
Bible  and  hymn-book,  which  are  the 
property  of  the  Church.  The  saving  in 
cost  of  books  in  a  series  of  years  would 
pay  all  extra  expenses  in  providing  for 
the  receptacles  and  conveniences. 

The  two  pieces  of  furniture  necessary 
for  the  observance  of  the  celebration  of 
the  Holy  Communion  and  the  Ordinance 
of  Baptism  are  the  Communion  Table 
and  the  Baptismal  Font.  There  is  no 
133 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

object  in  the  church  that  will  speak  with 
more  meaning  than  either  of  the  above — 
table  or  font.  These  are  constant  re- 
minders to  a  congregation  of  the  com- 
munion and  confession  of  the  Lord. 

The  churches  that  do  not  make  pro- 
vision for  an  organ  and  choir  back  of  the 
pulpit  can  add  greatly  to  the  acoustic 
properties  of  a  room  by  finishing  the 
alcove  as  an  arched  sounding  board. 
Many  churches  are  doomed  to  a  limited 
attendance  because  the  people  can  not 
hear  the  minister.  The  echo  in  other 
churches  is  so  marked  as  to  confuse  the 
message  of  every  speaker.  And  in  many 
more  the  shades  of  emotion  expressed 
by  a  speaker  are  wholly  lost  upon  his 
hearers. 

The  task  of  architects,  ministers,  com- 
mittees, and  Churches  is  not  yet  finished. 
It  may  well  be  wondered  if  we  are  more 
than  just  begun.  The  churches  of  other 
countries  are  built.  Their  conveniences 
are  the  developments  of  years.  Our 
134 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE 

churches  are  building,  and  our  conven- 
iences are  being  determined.  The  Church 
welcomes  the  man  or  manufacturer,  the 
servant  or  society  or  the  contractor  or 
Churches  that  will  help  to  find  our  needs, 
and  then  help  supply  them. 


135 


WORSHIP  AND  SOCIABILITY 


THE  social  life  of  the  Church  has 
received    unusual    attention.      It 
has  been  such  an  absorbing  topic 
with  some  Churches  that  a  reasonable 
question  has  been  asked  as  to  whether 
the  congregation  was  attempting  a  social 
club  or  a  Church  of  Christ.     In  some 
communities   it  is   true   that   "The   tea 
meeting   draws   people   together   as   the 
Communion  Table  does  not."     In  some 
congregations   one  can   detect  they  are 
more  dependent  upon  social  power  than 
on  saving  power.     The  highest  qualifi- 
cation and  chief  recommendation  to  the 
world  is  in  the  social  standing  of  some 
Churches;  the  fact  of  having  some  of  the 
so-called  best  families  in  the  communion 
or  even  in  the  self-reported  glory  of  being 
the  best  dressed  congregation  in  the  city. 
How  closely  this  theory  of  the  mission 
of  a  Church  comes  to  the  pronouncement 
of  Jesus  in  His  Mission  may  be  seen  in 
reference   to   His   announcement:   "The 
139 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because 
He  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  poor:  He  hath  sent  me  to 
heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  de- 
liverance to  the  captives,  and  recovering 
of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty 
them  that  are  bruised,  to  preach  the  ac- 
ceptable year  of  the  Lord."  Real  graces 
of  Christian  character  are  surely  an  asset 
in  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
The  dependence  upon  an  external  appli- 
cation of  social  favors  to  the  community 
on  the  part  of  the  Church  puts  it  upon  a 
low  plane  even  in  the  sight  of  those  to 
whom  she  would  make  her  appeal. 

From  without  the  Church  comes  a 
vigorous  accusation  because  of  a  lack  of 
sociability.  Readable  articles  in  noted 
periodicals  have  been  written  by  those 
claiming  to  have  suffered  a  neglect  in 
their  attendance  upon  the  service  of 
worship  in  prominent  Churches.  It  would 
be  hard  to  find  a  Church  that  has  not 
been  censured  because  of  an  inattention 
to  strangers.  In  fact,  the  entire  Church 
140 


SOCIABILITY 

has  been  put  under  suspicion  for  inci- 
vility because  she  has  not  met  the  re- 
quirements of  her  visitors.  It  may  be 
well  to  ask  what  is  this  really  important 
place  that  sociability  occupies  in  the  life 
of  a  worshiping  congregation.  The  fact 
that  in  American  Churches  the  free  pew 
is  common,  and  the  most  desirable  seat 
in  the  building  is  at  the  service  of  any 
stranger  or  visitor-worshiper,  is  in  itself 
a  sufficient  answer  to  the  objections  of 
the  so-called  neglected.  Strangers  are 
not  required  to  stand  while  the  congre- 
gation is  being  seated  in  their  respective 
pews.  There  is  no  side  glance  that  makes 
one  feel  as  though  he  had  no  place  in 
the  house  of  God,  because  he  chanced 
to  get  into  the  seat  of  a  pew-holder.  A 
stranger  enters  a  church  with  us  and  is 
courteously  shown  to  a  pew  of  his  own 
selection,  and  the  visitor  may  sit  with  all 
the  comforts  of  proprietorship.  The 
member  gives  the  worshiper  everything 
he  has  himself  in  the  matter  of  worship. 
What  more  shall  we  do?  The  whole 
141 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

question  as  to  whether  the  Church  is  a 
dwelling-place  of  God  where  His  children 
assemble  to  worship  Him  or  a  place  in 
which  His  children  come,  at  stated  times, 
to  prattle  a  bit,  is  involved  in  the  rela- 
tion of  worship  and  sociability.  The 
thousands  of  devout  worshiping  Chris- 
tians who  refrain  from  breaking  the  im- 
pression of  the  spirit  of  worship,  and 
marring  the  influence  of  the  service  upon 
them,  until  they  have  at  least  passed 
beyond  the  portals  of  the  sanctuary, 
should  not  be  held  up  to  the  imputa- 
tion of  coldness  or  carelessness  by  their 
fellow-men.  The  noise  of  complaint  is 
never  rightly  proportioned  to  the  number 
complaining.  There  are  people  in  every 
community  who  would  be  more  inclined  to 
attend  the  worship  of  the  Church  if  they 
knew  they  could  get  to  the  street  without 
having  to  run  a  gauntlet  of  welcoming 
committees  or  even  refusing  to  join  one 
of  a  half-dozen  societies.  The  worshiper 
looking  for  sociability  will  find  it  in  the 
social  services  of  the  Church.  People 
142 


SOCIABILITY 

do  not  often  leave  the  mid-week  prayer 
meeting  feeling  they  have  been  neglected 
for  want  of  attention.  The  numerous 
social  activities  of  our  modern  Church 
life  precludes  any  considerable  cause  for 
the  Church  to  censure  herself  or  stand 
criticism  from  others. 

It  is  not  a  source  of  great  inspiration 
to  a  minister,  after  a  faithful  presentation 
of  the  gospel  message,  to  find  that  before 
he  can  get  to  the  front  row  of  hearers 
already  the  subjects  of  the  market  and 
politics  have  been  taken  up.  There  are 
advantages  to  both  people  and  preacher 
in  a  friendly  recognition  before  or  at  the 
close  of  a  service  of  worship.  The  hearty 
laugh  of  the  preacher  that  resounds 
through  the  church,  which  is  more  an 
exhibition  of  nervousness  than  of  hearti- 
ness, does  not  add  to  the  impressions  of 
the  hour.  When  a  congregation  turns 
itself,  at  the  close  of  worship,  into  a 
conversational  circle,  and  the  individuals 
make  themselves  heard  above  the  forte 
march  of  the  big  organ,  there  is  at  least 
143 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

furnished   an   amusing   spectacle   to   the 
observer  from  the  gallery. 

There  are  efforts  of  sociability  which 
can  be  made  effective  in  a  service  of 
worship.  A  welcoming  committee  may 
be  most  useful  in  preparing  a  congrega- 
tion for  worship.  If  a  number  of  the  men 
of  a  Church  would  find  their  way  to  the 
ante-rooms  in  time  to  welcome  the  first- 
comers,  and  would  greet  singly  or  in 
groups  the  entire  congregation  as  it  ar- 
rives, they  would  become  a  real  factor 
in  the  worship  of  a  Church.  Such  socia- 
bility creates  a  wholesome  atmosphere  of 
devotion.  A  committee  can  work  with 
little  effectiveness  if  the  task  is  left  for 
the  conclusion  of  the  service.  It  will  de- 
tract at  this  time  more  than  it  will  add. 
Probably  the  most  serviceable  as  well  as 
the  best  received  company  of  men  for  the 
purpose  of  welcoming  an  audience  into 
the  place  of  worship  is  the  ushers.  It 
does  not  answer  the  need  to  have  just 
enough  ushers  to  find  seats  for  the  people. 
There  should  be  enough  to  have  men  at 
144 


SOCIABILITY 

liberty  at  all  entrances  and  at  all  times 
of  the  service.  The  graciousness  of  an 
usher  is  not  exceeded  by  that  of  a  mem- 
ber of  the  special  committee.  The  ushers' 
service  is  not  looked  upon  by  the  congre- 
gation as  in  any  way  a  perfunctory  duty, 
but  is  accepted  as  having  an  accredited 
place  in  Church  worship.  The  service  is 
often  made  or  marred  by  the  acts  of  an 
usher.  Personal  experience  records  eter- 
nal obligation  to  some  ushers  for  their 
unvarying  courtesy  and  acts  of  kindness 
in  the  performance  of  a  beautiful  and 
pleasant  duty  as  a  keeper  in  the  House  of 
the  Lord.  The  attention  of  ushers  to 
so-called  small  duties,  such  as  the  matter 
of  ventilation  by  the  windows,  the  re- 
fraining from  seating  tardy  worshipers 
during  prayer  or  reading  of  Scripture  or 
special  music,  and  the  other  varied 
courtesies  of  a  Church  service,  are  too 
well  known  to  be  emphasized  and  yet 
too  often  neglected. 

The    minister    may    put    himself    en 
rapport  with  the  members  of  a  congre- 
10  145 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

gation  if  he  have  strength  and  disposition 
to  meet  the  people  as  they  are  assembling 
for  worship.  This  gives  an  opportunity 
of  saying  a  good  personal  word  in  season 
and  establishing  a  feeling  of  good-will 
before  the  service  has  begun.  It  does  not 
seem  the  most  conducive  to  the  democ- 
racy of  Christian  worship  to  have  a 
Church  ofBcer  usher  the  minister  into  the 
pulpit  after  all  the  people  have  assembled, 
and  usher  him  out  at  the  close  before  any 
of  the  congregation  have  presumed  to 
leave.  The  liberty  of  our  American 
Churches  is  decidedly  helpful  to  both 
preacher  and  people  if  due  recognition 
is  given  to  the  time  and  place,  and  none 
are  thoughtless. 

A  greater  benefit  in  sociability  than 
the  formal  greeting  arises  from  the  in- 
formal civilities  of  every  member  of  the 
congregation.  To  find  a  hymn-book  or  a 
Bible  for  a  stranger  is  a  small  but  a  real 
service.  To  hold  the  entrance  end  of  a 
pew  as  though  the  occupant  were  sole 
owner  will  build  a  barrier  between  him- 
146 


SOCIABILITY 

self  and  the  stranger  that  a  handshake 
at  the  close  of  worship  will  not  be  strong 
enough  to  break  down.  Judging  from 
all  that  has  been  said,  one  might  conclude 
that  men  had  been  led  to  curse  rather 
than  consecrate  by  an  attendance  upon 
a  worship  where  they  were  so  hindered 
in  vision  as  not  to  see  the  front  of  the 
church  at  all,  much  less  the  preacher. 
Such  observation  could  be  easily  avoided 
on  the  part  of  those  obstructing,  if  a 
little  care  were  used  in  the  selection  of 
a  seat. 

Sociability  is  personality  in  expres- 
sion. Every  person  may  be  consecrated 
to  this  task,  and  the  pleasure  he  brings 
to  others  will  only  be  equaling  the  de- 
light he  has  in  the  task  himself.  If  our 
interest  were  to  go  farther  than  the 
Church  it  were  all  the  better.  If  the 
stranger  were  invited  to  come  and  share 
the  seat  with  a  member,  and  an  effort 
made  to  come  with  him,  there  would  be 
less  question  as  to  any  possible  neglect. 

The  Sunday  school  teachers  can  be- 
147 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

come  such  consecrated  personalities  as 
shall  make  it  possible  for  them  to  per- 
suade their  pupils  to  remain  to  the  wor- 
ship, to  which  the  most  of  them,  by  a 
Church  membership,  are  pledged.  If 
parents  do  not  look  after  the  attendance 
of  their  children,  then  it  is  becoming  for 
the  teacher  to  use  the  opportunity.  In 
this  way  the  teacher  becomes  the  govern- 
ing unit  of  this  smaller  congregation,  not 
only  in  the  matter  of  discipline,  but  also 
in  the  attitude  toward  the  worship  as  a 
whole,  and  especially  toward  the  indi- 
vidual parts  the  congregation  may  have 
in  the  service.  The  subject  of  sociability 
can  not  be  put  into  formal  rules  of  con- 
duct, for  it  is  a  life  to  be  lived.  The 
good  manners  of  the  heart  should  outrun 
the  rules  of  the  head.  A  worshiping 
congregation  has  in  her  consecrated  social 
powers  a  treasure  which  should  be  used 
for  divine  ends. 


148 


WORSHIP  AND  THE  MINISTER 


IF  this  book  had  ever  expected  a  place 
in  Pastoral  Theology  the  topic  now 
to  be  considered  would  not  only 
have  been  the  chief  chapter,  but  would 
have  been  the  real  theme  of  all  the 
chapters.  In  an  attempt  to  represent 
the  "priesthood  of  the  congregation,"  it 
will  be  better  if  the  minister  be  given  his 
place  with  the  worshiping  unit  rather 
than  apart  from  it. 

As  a  leader  the  minister  will  have  the 
most  important  part  in  worship.  As  a 
preacher  the  minister  is  given  due  con- 
sideration by  the  able  writers  and  great 
teachers  of  the  schools  of  theology.  It 
should  be  insisted  that  the  minister  shall 
be  as  fully  cognizant  of  his  position  as  a 
leader  of  a  congregation  in  worship,  as 
he  is  a  leader  in  thought  as  governed  by 
his  message  in  preaching. 

We  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  mat- 
ter of  the  selection  of  topics  that  shall  be 
considered  by  a  preacher,  or  his  method 
of  treatment  of  the  topics  selected,  or 
151 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

even  the  manner  of  delivery,  in  the 
strict  sense.  We  would  inquire  of  the 
congregation,  however,  when  they  last 
heard  the  minister  discuss  the  place  of 
worship  in  the  life  of  a  Christian,  or 
when  were  they  shown  the  significance  of 
the  acts  of  worship  in  taking  a  collec- 
tion or  in  punctuality,  public  praise, 
the  use  of  the  Bible  in  worship,  the 
meaning  of  our  church  buildings,  the 
keeping  of  holy  days,  or,  in  fact,  any  of 
the  topics  of  Christian  worship. 

The  Protestant  minister  has  a  much 
harder  task  in  the  matter  of  worship 
than  has  a  Romanist  or  Ritualist.  The 
minister  must,  with  practically  no  ritual, 
fill  a  ritualistic  service  full  of  meaning. 
If  he  has  no  order  of  service  to  follow  he 
is  left  with  the  prodigious  task  of  making 
one.  He  is  not  to  read  prayers,  but  he 
is  expected  to  pray  with  the  compre- 
hensiveness and  compassionate  fullness 
of  any  prayer  found  in  a  prayer  book. 
It  will  not  answer  at  all  for  a  minister  to 
intrude  his  own  personal  moods  and  ex- 
152 


THE  MINISTER 

periences  upon  a  congregation  while  lead- 
ing it  in  prayer.  No  man's  experience  is 
large  enough  to  comprehend  the  expe- 
riences of  an  entire  Church.  No  man's 
moods  are  to  be  depended  upon  as  in- 
diting even  his  own  prayers,  much  less 
for  a  congregation  with  greatly  varying 
moods.  A  worshiper  in  an  anniversary 
service  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher  noted 
that  the  minister  prayed  for  thirty  min- 
utes. He  was  attempting  to  express  the 
gratitude  of  the  congregation  for  the 
years  of  mercy  as  they  were  passed.  It 
was  a  prayer  of  confession  into  which  the 
entire  congregation  was  led.  It  was  a 
prayer  of  intercession  that  had  all  men 
under  its  compassion.  If  a  master  of 
public  address  could  not  express  the 
needs  of  a  congregation  in  a  prayer  of 
less  than  thirty  minutes,  how  shall  a 
man  of  feeble  speech  express  the  need 
of  his  congregation  in  five  minutes.?  He 
will  never  be  able  to  fully  accomplish 
his  task  in  prayer,  and  that  right  certain 
if  he  only  expresses  the  need  of  hia  own 
153 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

soul.  His  need  must  be  included,  but  it 
is  not  inclusive.  He  will  never  express 
the  needs  of  a  congregation  if  he  has 
never  given  attention  to  even  the  items 
of  a  comprehensive  prayer.  It  will  be 
poor  reason  to  claim  that  our  prayers 
are  given  us  of  the  Holy  Ghost  if  we  are 
not  concerned  enough  to  know  what  the 
Holy  One  would  teach  a  praying  heart. 
A  look  into  a  prayer-book  might  not 
nurture  a  man's  own  soul,  but  there  is  a 
good  reason  to  think  it  would  help  a 
minister  in  the  nurture  of  other  souls. 
It  will  be  absolutely  impossible  for  a 
minister  to  comprehend  the  needs  of  a 
congregation  and  be  their  leader  in  the 
holy  act  of  prayer  unless  he  give  himself 
to  a  most  diligent  and  watchful  study  of 
prayer.  It  is  not  meant  that  he  shall 
dissect  his  spiritual  life  and  that  of  his 
people,  and  kill  both  in  the  process,  but 
rather  that  he  shall  fill  his  own  mind 
full  of  the  need  of  his  people  and  have 
"the  fullness  of  grace  upon  grace"  in 
his  own  heart.  A  minister  may  well  sit 
154 


THE  MINISTER 

in  thoughtfulness  for  a  time  on  Saturday 
evening  trying  to  fix  in  mind  the  items 
of  need  that  should  be  recognized  in  his 
congregation.  As  an  aid  to  the  minister's 
natural  equipment  for  this  service  we 
can  do  nothing  better  than  help  him  to 
the  exhortation  found  in  the  "Directory 
of  Worship  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." 
"We  think  it  necessary  to  observe  that, 
although  we  do  not  approve,  as  is  well 
known,  of  confining  ministers  to  set  or 
fixed  forms  of  prayer  for  public  worship, 
yet  it  is  the  indispensable  duty  of  every 
minister,  previous  to  entering  upon  his 
office,  to  prepare  and  qualify  himself  for 
this  part  of  his  duty  as  well  as  for  preach- 
ing. He  ought,  by  a  thorough  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Holy  Scriptures,  by 
reading  the  best  writers  on  the  subject, 
by  meditation,  and  by  a  life  of  com- 
munion with  God  in  secret,  to  endeavor 
to  acquire  both  the  spirit  and  the  gift 
of  prayer.  Not  only  so,  but  when  he  is 
to  enter  on  particular  acts  of  worship 
he  should  endeavor  to  compose  his 
155 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

spirit  and  to  digest  his  thought  for 
prayer." 

A  minister's  manner  in  public  prayer 
may  have  as  much  meaning  as  his  mes- 
sage. It  is  not  so  much  the  physical  at- 
titude he  may  assume  in  prayer  as  it  is 
the  spiritual  attitude  he  really  has  that 
is  of  great  concern.  His  own  reverence 
will  help  create  a  spiritual  atmosphere 
in  which  another  may  be  able,  and  even 
anxious,  to  pray.  No  member  will  be 
made  devotional  in  the  act  of  prayer 
while  his  minister  is  scolding  him  in  the 
prayer.  It  is  not  a  time  for  personalities 
other  than  in  the  petition  of  blessing. 
Some  ministers  have  been  known  for 
the  speed  with  which  they  could  close 
their  prayers,  arise  from  their  knees,  and 
begin  the  next  part  of  the  service.  A 
seeming  or  real  haste  destroys  the  de- 
votion of  a  whole  congregation. 

The  minister  is  an  example  to  his 

congregation   every   time   he   reads    the 

Bible  in  worship.     His  own  spirit  ought 

to  follow  the   message  read   with  such 

156 


THE  MINISTER 

relish  that  the  congregation  would  eagerly 
run  after  him.  If  the  minister  knows  not 
what  he  shall  read,  what  shall  it  con- 
cern the  congregation  how  he  shall  read 
it?  If  he  can  make  the  message  too  good 
to  be  true  he  can  make  the  people  want 
to  see  the  page  on  which  they  may  find 
the  wondrous  truth.  Some  ministers  use 
their  Bibles  as  though  they  were  punch- 
ing bags  in  the  gymnasium  of  an  athlete. 
"What  books  were  those  you  used  this 
morning  in  reading  the  service.^"  asked 
Garrick  of  an  English  clergyman. 
"  Books  .^  Why,  the  Bible  and  prayer- 
book!"  "Ah,"  said  the  famous  actor, 
"I  observed  that  you  handled  them  as 
though  they  were  a  ledger  and  day- 
book." 

The  minister  brings  his  offering  of 
money,  sermon,  praise,  leadership,  and 
prayer  and  worships  with  the  congrega- 
tion. Why,  then,  shall  the  minister  not 
get  as  much  of  comfort  and  consolation 
from  the  hour  of  worship  as  the  member 
of  the  congregation.^  It  may  be  with 
157 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

regret,  but  many  ministers  acknowledge 
the  hours  of  pubHc  worship  have  nothing 
in  them  of  personal  reward  other  than 
that  of  having  done  a  duty.  Should  it 
be  so?  Why  shall  there  come  to  any 
other,  more  than  to  himself,  the  saving 
grace  of  a  service  of  worship?  Is  it  a 
fact  that  the  minister  has  forgot  to  wor- 
ship, but  became  a  pure  functionary  by 
which  others  might  worship?  To  the 
minister  it  has  been  work  rather  than 
worship. 

There  are  many  ministers  who  know 
full  well  their  limitations  as  preachers. 
As  leaders  in  a  worshiping  congregation 
they  may  be  decidedly  helpful,  and  even 
surpass  some  more  spectacular  servant 
of  the  platform,  who  is  made  careless,  or 
at  least  indifferent,  to  any  other  item  of 
worship  than  the  sermon.  A  minister 
showing  diligence  in  every  act  of  worship 
becomes  a  true  leader  and  will  prove  an 
increasing  power  in  the  Church.  There 
is  nothing  here  to  permit  or  suggest  any 
neglect  on  the  part  of  the  minister  as 
US 


THE  MINISTER 

preacher,  but  rather  supplementing  any 
strength  he  may  have  as  a  preacher. 
In  an  effective  sermon  the  minister  re- 
ceives our  praise,  but  in  an  effective  wor- 
ship the  Lord  receives  our  gratitude. 
It  is  the  minister  who  keeps  the  true 
ideal  of  the  unity  of  worship  before  a 
congregation. 

To  summarize,  rather  than  attempt 
the  discussion  of  those  things  that  have 
to  do  with  a  minister  in  the  work  of 
leading  a  congregation  in  worship,  let 
him  observe  the  following:  Do  not  come 
into  the  church  in  breathless  haste, 
throwing  your  top-coat  over  the  chancel 
rail  or  your  hat  under  the  pulpit  chair. 
Your  composure  will  be  needed  to  help 
some  who  have  really  been  made  to 
hurry.  If  you  will  refrain  from  talking 
with  a  visiting  minister  while  another  is 
leading  in  prayer,  or  reading  the  Scrip- 
tures, or  the  congregation  is  singing,  it 
will  help  the  people  refrain  from  visit- 
ing in  the  pews.  If  you  gaze  about  un- 
concerned only  while  you  are  vocalizing 
159 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

your  audience  will  not  be  concerned 
when  you  do  speak.  If  you  get  up  to 
look  over  your  Bible  or  sermon  while  a 
solo  is  being  sung,  the  chances  are  the 
soloist  will  look  over  the  music  while 
you  preach.  Help  the  people  listen  to 
you  by  avoiding  such  mannerisms  as  of 
necessity  take  attention  from  the  mes- 
sage. If  you  yawn  in  the  pulpit  the 
people  will  likely  sleep  in  the  pew.  If 
you  constantly  suppress  your  feeling  the 
people  are  apt  to  suppress  your  facts.  If 
the  minister  stands  squarely  on  the  floor, 
and  without  unnecessary  base,  it  at  least 
suggests  that  as  he  can  get  himself  to- 
gether he  will  be  likely  to  thus  treat  his 
theme.  If  the  minister  steps  over  the 
chancel  rail  the  children  will  see  no  reason 
why  they  shall  not  step  over  the  seats. 
The  minister  must  be  heard:  if  it  is  the 
fault  of  the  church,  correct  it,  or  if  it  is 
the  fault  of  the  minister,  correct  him. 
Take  the  advice  of  Thomas  a  Kempis: 
"If  you  can  not  sing  so  sweetly  as  the 
160 


THE  MINISTER 

lark  or  the  nightingale,  then  sing  as  the 
raven,  or  as  the  frog  in  the  pool,  who  sing 
as   God  gave   them;   only   do  not  raise 
your  voice  too  greatly."    Good  sense  and 
good  taste  ought  to  keep  the  minister 
from  using  jingoism  in  the  pulpit.     The 
people  have  enough  of  it  in  the  six  days 
of  a  week,   and   would   be   rid  of  such 
things   on   their   Sabbath.      Do   not   be 
afraid    of   over-using    Scripture  in  your 
sermons.     One  of  the  greatest  preachers 
of    our   day   has    sustained    himself   for 
over  forty  years  in  one  pulpit,  with  an 
increasing  devotion  on  the  part  of  his 
Church,  and  he  uses  as  much  Scripture 
in  one  sermon  as  most  ministers  in  a 
half-dozen  sermons. 

The  minister  is  most  serviceable  to  a 
congregation  when  he  is  the  most  capable 
in  the  service  of  worship  of  helping  the 
individual  lose  himself  in  the  prayer, 
praise,  profession,  confession,  and  com- 
munal possession  of  the  congregation  in 
worship.  Then  the  unit  of  worship  is 
''  161 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

realizing  the  ideal  of  historical  and  spir- 
itual worship.  The  aim  of  Christianity 
is  individualistic,  but  it  does  not  stop 
until  it  finds  its  highest  expression  in  a 
worship  that  is  truly  collective. 


162 


WORSHIP  AND  KEEPING  SPECIAL 
DAYS 


A  CONGREGATION  that  shows 
interest  and  takes  a  willing 
part  in  the  worship  of  the  spe- 
cial days  of  the  Church  finds  great  gain. 
The  special  days  of  recognition  in  wor- 
ship may  be  named  as  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, Service  of  Baptism,  Christmas 
Day  and  Sunday  nearest  it,  Easter  Sun- 
day, Children's  Day,  Thanksgiving  Day 
and  Sunday  nearest  it.  Education  Day, 
Memorial  Sunday,  and  Mothers'  Day. 
In  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion the  Church  has  its  most  univer- 
sally kept  act  of  worship.  "This  do  in 
remembrance  of  Me"  has  made  its  appeal 
to  the  devout  Christian  of  every  land 
and  of  every  name.  Dr.  Denney,  in  the 
*' Death  of  Christ,"  expresses  the  con- 
viction of  those  to  whom  the  Holy  Com- 
munion means  most:  "One  almost  de- 
spairs of  saying  anything  about  the 
Lord's  Supper  which  will  not  seem  in- 
valid to  some  upon  critical  or  more 
general  grounds."  Some  kind  of  a  ritual 
165 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

service,  formal  or  informal,  is  used  by 
the  congregation.  The  essential  features 
of  all  the  Churches  in  this  sacrament  are 
taken  from  that  first  Supper  of  the  Lord. 
The  preparation  of  the  room  and  the 
emblems  are  duly  looked  after  by  those 
appointed.  We  have  no  example  of  an 
Eucharistic  prayer  recorded  as  having 
been  left  by  the  Lord.  The  prayers  are 
thus  left  with  the  various  Churches  or 
the  celebrating  minister.  The  actual 
breaking  of  bread  and  taking  a  cup  is 
in  some  way  recognized  in  every  service. 
To  hold  to  the  thesis  of  this  discussion 
that  it  is  "the  priesthood  of  the  congre- 
gation" that  must  be  the  determining 
factor  in  all  worship,  so  here  the  congre- 
gation must  accept  its  part  in  a  holy 
service,  which,  as  an  act  of  noble  and 
devotional  worship,  is  not  excelled.  That 
service  of  a  non-liturgical  Church  which 
seems  best  adapted  to  the  expression  of 
the  congregational  ideal  of  worship  in 
the  Holy  Communion  is  found  in  the 
usage  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
166 


KEEPING  SPECIAL  DAYS 

As  a  form  for  study,  if  not  for  use,  it  is 
included  here.  While  the  minister  is 
reading  one  or  more  of  a  list  of  selected 
Scripture  sentences,  the  persons  who  are 
appointed  for  the  purpose  shall  receive 
the  alms  for  the  poor.  The  people  sing 
a  Communion  hymn,  and  when  finished 
remain  standing  while  the  minister  gives 
the  following  invitation:  "If  any  man 
sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father, 
Jesus  Christ  the  righteous:  and  He  is 
the  propitiation  for  our  sins:  and  not 
for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the 
whole  world. 

"Wherefore  ye  that  do  truly  and 
earnestly  repent  of  your  sins,  and  are 
in  love  and  charity  with  your  neighbors, 
and  intend  to  lead  a  new  life,  following 
the  commandments  of  God,  and  walking 
from  henceforth  in  His  holy  ways,  draw 
near  with  faith,  and  take  this  Holy 
Sacrament  to  your  comfort;  and,  de- 
voutly kneeling,  make  your  humble  con- 
fession to  Almighty  God." 

The  suggestion  of  the  Church  is  that 
167 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

the  general  confession,  which  follows,  is 
to  be  made  by  the  minister  in  the  name 
of  all  those  who  are  minded  to  receive 
the  Holy  Communion,  but  a  more  ef- 
fective service,  and  also  a  more  correct 
service,  is  expressed  if  the  congregation 
retain  its  position  as  ministering  priest 
and  the  individuals,  each  for  himself, 
make  the  confession  with  the  minister, 
and  say:  "Almighty  God,  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Maker  of  all  things. 
Judge  of  all  men,  we  acknowledge  and 
bewail  our  manifold  sins  and  wickedness, 
which  we  from  time  to  time  most  griev- 
ously have  committed,  by  thought,  word, 
and  deed,  against  Thy  Divine  Majesty, 
provoking  most  justly  Thy  wrath  and 
indignation  against  us.  We  do  earnestly 
repent,  and  are  heartily  sorry  for  these 
our  misdoings;  the  remembrance  of  them 
is  grievous  unto  us.  Have  mercy  upon 
us,  have  mercy  upon  us,  most  merciful 
Father;  for  Thy  Son,  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christs'  sake,  forgive  us  all  that  is  past; 
and  grant  that  we  may  ever  hereafter 
168 


KEEPING  SPECIAL  DAYS 

serve  and  please  Thee  in  newness  of  life, 
to  the  honor  and  glory  of  Thy  name, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen." 
The  Amen  may  be  said  or  sung  effectively. 
The  minister  then  shall  say:  "Almighty 
God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  who  of  Thy 
great  mercy  hast  promised  forgiveness  of 
sins  to  all  them  that  with  hearty  re- 
pentance and  true  faith  turn  unto  Thee, 
have  mercy  upon  us;  pardon  and  deliver 
us  from  all  our  sins;  confirm  and 
strengthen  us  in  all  goodness;  and  bring 
us  to  everlasting  life,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.  Amen."  The  Collect 
should  be  said  by  the  people:  "Almighty 
God,  unto  whom  all  hearts  are  open,  all 
desires  known,  and  from  whom  no  secrets 
are  hid,  cleanse  the  thoughts  of  our 
hearts  by  the  inspiration  of  Thy  Holy 
Spirit,  that  we  may  perfectly  love  Thee, 
and  worthily  magnify  Thy  holy  name 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen." 
This  is  followed  by  the  words  of  the 
minister,  who  says:  "We  do  not  presume 
to  come  to  this  Thy  table,  0  merciful 
169 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

Lord,  trusting  in  our  own  righteous- 
ness, but  in  Thy  manifold  and  great 
mercies.  We  are  not  worthy  so  much  as 
to  gather  up  the  crumbs  under  Thy 
table.  But  Thou  art  the  same  Lord, 
whose  property  is  always  to  have  mercy. 
Grant  us,  therefore,  gracious  Lord,  so  to 
eat  the  flesh  of  Thy  dear  Son  Jesus 
Christ,  and  to  drink  His  blood,  that  we 
may  live  and  grow  thereby;  and  that, 
being  washed  through  His  most  precious 
blood,  we  may  evermore  dwell  in  Him, 
and  He  in  us.  Amen."  The  prayer  of 
consecration  offered  by  the  minister  is  as 
follows:  "Almighty  God,  our  Heavenly 
Father,  who  of  Thy  tender  mercy  didst 
give  Thine  only  Son  Jesus  Christ  to  suffer 
death  upon  the  cross  for  our  redemption; 
who  made  there,  by  His  oblation  of 
Himself,  once  offered,  a  full,  perfect,  and 
sufficient  sacrifice,  oblation,  and  satis- 
faction for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world; 
and  did  institute,  and  in  His  holy  gospel 
command  us  to  continue,  a  perpetual 
memory  of  His  precious  death  until  His 
170 


KEEPING  SPECIAL  DAYB 

coming  again:  hear  us,  0  merciful  Father, 
we  most  humbly  beseech  Thee,  and 
grant  that  we,  receiving  these  Thy  crea- 
tures of  bread  and  wine,  according  to 
Thy  Son  our  Savior  Jesus  Christ's  holy 
institution,  in  remembrance  of  His  death 
and  passion,  may  be  partakers  of  His 
most  blessed  body  and  blood;  who,  in 
the  same  night  that  He  was  betrayed, 
took  bread;  and  when  He  had  given 
thanks.  He  broke  it,  and  gave  it  to  His 
disciples,  saying,  Take,  eat;  this  is  My 
body  which  is  given  for  you;  do  this  in 
remembrance  of  Me. 

"Likewise  after  supper  He  took  the 
cup;  and  when  He  had  given  thanks.  He 
gave  it  to  them,  saying.  Drink  ye  all  of 
this;  for  this  is  My  blood  of  the  New 
Testament,  which  is  shed  for  you,  and 
for  many,  for  the  remission  of  sins;  do 
this,  as  oft  as  ye  shall  drink  it,  in  re- 
membrance of  Me.  Amen."  After  the 
ministers  have  received  the  bread  and 
wine  there  shall  be  said:  "It  is  very 
meet,  right,  and  our  bounden  duty  that 
171 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

we  should  at  all  times  and  in  all  places 
give  thanks  unto  Thee,  O  Lord,  Holy 
Father,  Almighty,  Everlasting  God." 
The  choir  and  congregation  can  effect- 
ively sing  the  Sanctus:  "Therefore  with 
angels  and  archangels,  and  with  all  the 
company  of  Heaven,  we  laud  and  mag- 
nify Thy  glorious  name,  evermore  prais- 
ing Thee,  and  saying.  Holy,  Holy,  Holy, 
Lord  God  of  Hosts,  heaven  and  earth 
are  full  of  Thy  glory.  Glory  be  to  Thee, 
O  Lord  most  high!  Amen."  The  min- 
ister proceeds  to  administer  the  Com- 
munion to  the  people,  and  after  all  are 
finished,  the  congregation  say  or  chant 
with  the  minister  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
which  is  followed  by  the  effective  words 
of  the  minister:  ''O  Lord  our  Heavenly 
Father,  we  Thy  humble  servants  desire 
Thy  Fatherly  goodness  mercifully  to  ac- 
cept this  our  sacrifice  of  praise  and 
thanksgiving;  most  humbly  beseeching 
Thee  to  grant  that,  by  the  merits  and 
death  of  Thy  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and 
through  faith  in  His  blood,  we  and  Thy 
172 


KEEPING  SPECIAL  DAYS 

whole  Church  may  obtain  forgiveness  of 
our  sins,   and  all  other  benefits  of  His 
passion.     And  here  we  offer  and  present 
'  unto  Thee,  O  Lord,  ourselves,  our  souls 
and  bodies,  to  be  a  reasonable,  holy,  and 
lively  sacrifice  unto  Thee;  humbly  be- 
seeching Thee  that  all  we  who  are  par- 
takers of  this  Holy  Communion  may  be 
filled    with    Thy    grace    and    heavenly 
benediction.     And  although  we  be  un- 
worthy,  through   our  manifold   sins,   to 
offer  unto  Thee  any  sacrifice,  yet  we  be- 
seech Thee  to  accept  this  our  bounden 
duty  and  service;  not  weighing  our  merits, 
but  pardoning  our  offenses,  through  Jesus 
Christ   our  Lord;   by   whom,   and   with 
whom,  in  the  unity  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
all   honor   and   glory   be   unto  Thee,   O 
Father    Almighty,    world    without    end. 
Amen."     Then  should  the  congregation 
sing    Gloria  in  Excelsis:    "Glory  be  to 
God  on  high,  and  on  earth  peace,  good 
will   toward   men!   we  praise  Thee,   we 
bless  Thee,  we  worship  Thee,  we  glorify 
Thee,  we  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  Thy 
173 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

great    glory,    O    Lord    God,    Heavenly 
King,  God  the  Father  Almighty! 

"O  Lord,  the  only  begotten  Son  Jesus 
Christ:  O  Lord  God,  Lamb  of  God,  Son 
of  the  Father,  that  takest  away  the  sins 
of  the  world,  have  mercy  upon  us.  Thou 
that  takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world, 
have  mercy  upon  us.  Thou  that  takest 
away  the  sins  of  the  world,  receive  our 
prayer.  Thou  that  sittest  at  the  right 
hand  of  God  the  Father,  have  mercy 
upon  us.  For  Thou  only  art  holy;  Thou 
only  art  the  Lord;  Thou  only,  O  Christ, 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  art  most  high  in 
the  glory  of  God  the  Father.  Amen." 
The  service  closes  with  the  Apostolic 
Benediction.  We  have  given  this  service 
because  it  has  in  it  as  much  or  more  than 
any  other  service  for  the  people.  The  min- 
ister has  in  the  ritual  perhaps  a  half  more 
than  is  allotted  to  the  people,  but  so  large 
a  part  is  given  the  people,  if  they  were 
properly  instructed  and  had  a  will  to 
do  what  in  the  test  of  experience  proves 
the  most  helpful  to  all,  the  Communion 
174 


KEEPING  SPECIAL  DAYS 

services  could  be  made  as  they  ought  to 
be,  the  most  helpful,  spiritual,  and  longed- 
for  service  of  worship  in  the  Churches. 

We  do  not  presume  to  speak  upon  the 
preliminary  service  to  the  celebration  of 
the  Holy  Communion.  This  varies  in 
the  different  Churches.  That  a  special 
preparation  service  should  be  held  previ- 
ous to  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion is  undoubted.  The  Church 
should  not  be  permitted  to  rush  into  the 
participation  of  this  holy  service  unpre- 
pared either  as  the  larger  factor  in  cele- 
bration or  in  the  more  limited  capacity 
of  receiving. 

The  administration  of  Baptism  to 
either  adults  or  children  may  well  be  used 
as  a  special  day  in  the  worship  of  the 
Church.  It  is  to  be  hoped  it  might  be 
necessary  to  make  it  of  frequent  occur- 
rence, but  it  at  least,  so  far  as  possible, 
should  have  its  public  appeal  and  in- 
struction. In  the  baptism  of  a  child 
the  minister  has  an  opportunity  of  calling 
to  the  mind  of  all  parents  their  most 
175 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

holy  and  sacred  duty.  No  congregation 
will  become  too  well  instructed  in  the 
obligation  as  well  as  the  nature  of  the 
Sacrament.  An  invitation  to  every  un- 
converted man  rests  in  the  right  observ- 
ance of  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism  ad- 
ministered to  an  adult.  For  these  reasons, 
and  others,  a  service  of  baptism  may 
well  be  considered  a  special  occasion  in 
the  worship  of  a  Church. 

It  is  recognized  by  the  Churches  more 
and  more  that  Christmas  Day  should  be 
observed  in  a  service  of  special  worship 
in  the  Churches.  As  a  barrier  against 
an  encroachment  upon  the  sacredness  of 
the  day  it  is  well  for  the  Churches  to 
turn  the  attention  of  the  people  of  a  com- 
munity to  the  spiritual  significance  of 
the  day.  An  early  morning  service  of 
praise  and  thanksgiving,  a  service  at 
the  time  of  regular  worship,  or  a  vesper 
service  in  an  appropriate  hour  can  be 
used  effectively.  It  is  a  custom  to  be 
commended  that  gives  a  Christmas  Sun- 
day service  to  the  community.  That 
176 


KEEPING  SPECIAL  DAYS 

Church  which  puts  before  its  people  and 
the  community  the  varied  approaches  to 
a  Christian  hfe  and  character  may  well 
expect  to  see  the  returning  fruits  of  such 
endeavor. 

Easter  Sunday  is  generally  observed 
by  the  Christian  world.  Too  often,  how- 
ever, is  the  observance  in  slight  keeping 
with  the  meaning  of  the  day.  Many 
Churches  seem  satisfied  to  let  a  chil- 
dren's service  or  Sunday  school  concert 
take  the  place  of  the  regular  worship  of 
the  Easter  morning.  A  concert  has  its 
distinct  place,  and  there  are  hours  when, 
with  great  propriety  and  profit,  the 
Church  may  give  itself  to  worship  in 
this  way;  but  the  time  is  not  on  an 
Easter  Sunday  morning.  If  the  minister 
has  any  duty  or  privilege  of  a  large  nature 
it  may  well  be  considered  as  centering 
in  the  message  he  brings  his  people  on 
the  Easter  Sunday.  A  prominent  and 
devoted  layman  relates  his  experience  in 
going  to  the  service  on  an  Easter  Sunday 
morning,  and  the  chagrin  and  disap- 
12  177 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

pointment  he  felt  when  his  minister  an- 
nounced his  theme  of  "Civic  Righteous- 
ness." No  man  in  the  city  was  more 
concerned  than  this  man  in  civic  right- 
eousness, but  he  had,  in  common  with 
the  Christian  world,  a  great  longing  to 
hear  of  the  things  that  give  the  greatest 
confidence  to  our  Christian  faith.  Thus 
oftentimes  a  children's  service  is  made  to 
take  the  place  of  that  message  which  is 
above  every  other  message  calculated  to 
form  the  basis  of  faith.  A  most  success- 
ful service  for  children  has  been  con- 
ducted in  at  least  one  Church  on  Easter 
Sunday  afternoon.  This  service  is  the 
established  and  recognized  Sunday  for 
decision  on  the  part  of  the  young  for  a 
Christian  life.  Children  are  brought  for 
baptism  and  adults  are  invited.  It 
makes  a  sane,  sacred,  and  saving  service. 
Children's  Day  is  appropriately  as- 
sociated in  some  Churches  with  educa- 
tion. The  educational  societies  furnish 
programs  which  are  informing  and  usually 
inspiring.  Many  Churches  have  no  par- 
178 


KEEPING  SPECIAL  DAYS 

ticular  plan  in  view  in  keeping  the  day 
other  than  to  have  a  service  in  which  the 
children  take  part.  When  there  is  no 
object  in  view  or  clearly  defined  purpose 
in  the  service  it  is  the  tendency  to  let  it 
drift  into  a  sort  of  exhibition  and  lose 
the  thought  as  well  as  the  spirit  of  wor- 
ship. It  is  not  to  the  advantage  of  the 
Church  to  indulge  its  children  in  a 
species  of  private  theatricals  in  the 
Church.  Halls  and  chapels  connected 
with  the  church  may  be  used  for  purposes 
which  are  not  in  keeping  with  the 
sanctuary  of  worship,  and  a  time  that 
should  be  guardedly  held  for  worship. 
A  minister  of  prominence  had  as  his 
custom  for  the  observance  of  Thanks- 
giving Sunday  the  preaching  of  a  sermon. 
He  joined  in  the  usual  Thanksgiving 
services  of  the  Churches,  but  on  the  Sun- 
day nearest  the  day  he  held  his  Church 
Thanksgiving  Service.  In  this  message, 
which  was  usually  illustrated  by  a  great 
world  map,  he  would  undertake  to  show 
the  congregation  the  world  progress  of 
179 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

the  year  for  which  any  people  should  be 
thankful,  and  especially  a  Christian  peo- 
ple. The  day  is  also  used  for  the  purpose 
of  calling  attention  of  the  Church  to  its 
own  progress,  locally  or  world-wide,  and 
the  greatest  opportunity  for  a  considera- 
tion of  the  progress  of  the  Church  in  the 
world  is  offered.  A  real  missionary  ser- 
mon that  has  the  viewpoint  of  gratitude 
instead  of  gold  is  the  outcome. 

The  educational  Sunday  referred  to  is 
not  that  used  by  the  Educational  Boards 
of  the  various  Churches,  but  rather  the 
Sunday  connected  with  the  high  school 
and  college  Commencements.  The  an- 
nual sermon  is  observed  in  many  com- 
munities, and  the  general  topic  of  educa- 
tion is  worthy  a  service  of  worship. 
Besides  the  personal  opportunity  of  an 
appeal  to  the  young  life,  it  has  a  farther 
significance  in  calling  attention  to  the 
thoroughly  Christian  character  of  the 
schools,  as  illustrated  in  the  character  of 
the  teaching  force  of  the  land,  the  pro- 
portion of  the  graduates  from  Christian 
180 


KEEPING  SPECIAL  DAYS 

homes,   and  the   Christian  character  of 
the  teaching  of  our  day. 

Memorial  Sunday  has  the  appeal  for 
patriotism  that  the  Educational  Sunday 
has  for  education.  The  Church  has 
great  gain  in  the  observance  of  the  day, 
for  she  honors  herself  in  the  honor  she 
pays  to  our  patriot  dead.  The  time  may 
not  be  far  removed  when  the  Church  will 
institute  another  memorial  service — the 
day  when  she  will  recognize  the  soldier 
of  piety  on  the  plains  of  peace  as  now 
she  recognizes  the  soldier  of  patriotism 
on  the  fields  of  war. 


181 


WORSHIP   AND   THE    ORDER   OF 
SERVICE 


THE  Churches  have  in  general  a 
recognized  order  of  services.  In 
many  of  them  the  order  is  indif- 
ferently followed.  It  is  more  a  suggested 
than  a  prescribed  order.  There  are 
many  Churches  where  the  word  is  a  mis- 
applied term.  There  is  no  order.  The 
minister  and  congregation  are  to  sing, 
pray,  read  a  lesson,  and  listen  to  a  sermon. 
In  many  other  Churches,  and  those  of 
the  more  pretentious  order,  there  is  an 
attempt  made  to  introduce  novelty  into 
the  service.  Simplicity  of  service  may 
be  a  virtue,  and  to  many  minds  it  will 
be  the  most  appropriate.  We  must  bear 
in  mind  that  progress  in  Christian  char- 
acter must  be  attained,  and  only  that 
service  that  lends  itself  as  an  aid  to  such 
development  shall  be  accepted  as  the 
desirable.  The  service  that  has  the  ele- 
ment of  simplicity  expressed  in  the  terms 
of  limitation  is  not  to  be  sought  after. 
The  simpler  the  service,  that  has  in  it 
all  the  elements  of  necessity,  the  better. 
185 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

The  introduction  of  novelties  of  worship 
will  be  made  at  the  expense  of  the  es- 
sentials of  worship. 

An  order  of  service  common  to  all 
Protestant  Churches  would  be  of  real 
advantage  to  the  worship  of  the  present. 
The  difficulties  are  apparent  in  these 
days,  when  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for 
ministers  of  different  denominations  to 
exchange  for  a  service  of  worship,  or  the 
still  more  common  participation  in  union 
services.  It  is  also  recognized  as  a  diffi- 
culty for  a  minister  to  go  to  various 
Churches  of  his  own  denomination  and 
know  what  will  be  really  expected  from 
him  as  to  a  service.  Sometimes  he  is  lim- 
ited to  a  twenty  or  thirty  minute  opening 
service,  and  again  the  prescribed  form  of 
opening  worship  will  continue  for  fifty 
minutes.  The  service  may  not  suffer  from 
this  indefiniteness  of  time,  but  a  minister 
often  suffers  a  limitation  upon  his  message 
which  is  not  overcome  by  his  willingness 
to  conform  to  the  requirements.  Where 
there  is  a  Church  officer  whose  business  it 
186 


ORDER  OF  SERVICE 

is  to  furnish  a  visiting  minister  an  intelli- 
gent idea  of  the  requirements  of  the  service 
the  diflSculties  in  part  may  be  obviated. 

It  remains  a  question  as  to  whether 
the  various  Churches  will  ever  come  to 
the  use  of  a  common  order  of  worship, 
but  there  is  no  question  as  to  the  neces- 
sary items  of  worship  in  all  the  Churches. 
The  order  may  vary,  but  the  need  is 
continuous. 

Keeping  in  view  the  idea  of  the  con- 
gregation as  the  worshiping  unit,  the 
following  items  may  be  suggested  as 
necessary  in  a  worship  that  will  have  in 
it  the  possibility  and  the  probability  of 
development  of  the  spiritual  life  and 
Christian  character  of  the  congregation. 

Introduction 

The  introduction  of  a  service  of  wor- 
ship is  not  the  slight  matter  we  are  apt 
to  make  it.  A  minister  is  heard  announce 
as  his  opening  words  of  worship,  "Sing 
one-twenty-six."  A  man  has  no  more 
liberty  in  a  pulpit  than  out  of  it.  He  is 
187 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

rightfully  expected  to  make  a  complete 
and  intelligible  sentence  here  as  though 
he  were  in  a  schoolroom.  Why  not  say, 
*'Let  us  worship  God, "  or  "Let  us  pray, " 
or  ''Let  us  worship  by  the  use  of  hymn 
or  Psalm  number  twenty-six?"  If  there 
is  objection  to  opening  worship  with  a 
hymn,  then  a  short  prayer  of  invocation 
may  be  offered.  It  is  suggested  by 
some  that  appropriate  verses  of  Scripture 
should  be  used  as  the  first  words  of  wor- 
ship. We  ought  to  let  our  Heavenly 
Father  speak  to  us  before  we  presume  to 
speak  in  His  presence.  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord"  has  more  compelling  power  than 
any  words  of  man.  It  would  require 
but  little  effort  on  the  part  of  the  minister 
to  find  appropriate  Scripture  verses  for 
the  services  of  a  year.  The  Bible  lends 
itself  very  readily  to  such  messages  as. 

How  amiable  are  Thy  tabernacles,  O  Lord  of 

Hosts! 
My   soul   longeth,   yea,   even   fainteth   for   the 

courts  of  the  Lord:  my  heart  and  my  flesh 

crieth  out  for  the  living  God. 
188 


ORDER  OF  SERVICE 

Blessed  are  they  that  dwell  in  Thy  house:  they 

will  be  still  praising  Thee. 
Blessed  is  the  man  whose  strength  is  in  Thee: 
In  whose  heart  are  the  highways  to  Zion. 

— Psa.  84. 

It  is  a  good  thing  to  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord, 

And  to  sing  praises  unto  Thy  name,  O  Most 
High: 

To  show  forth  Thy  lovingkindness  in  the  morn- 
ing. 

And  Thy  faithfulness  every  night. — Psa.  92. 

O  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord;  for  He  Is  good: 
For  His  mercy  endureth  forever. — Psa.  118. 

If  the  Invocation  prayer  is  used  in- 
stead of  the  hymn  or  Scriptures,  it  finds 
an  illustration  in  the  following  Scrip- 
ture verses,  which  are  an  example  in 
brevity,  inclusiveness,  and  spirit: 

Who  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord? 
And  who  shall  stand  in  His  holy  place.? 
He  that  hath  clean  hands,  and  a  pure  heart; 
Who  hath  not  lifted  up  his  soul  unto  vanity, 
And  hath  not  sworn  deceitfully. 
He  shall  receive  a  blessing  from  the  Lord, 
And  righteousness  from  the  God  of  his  salvation. 
189 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  according  to  Thy 
lovingkindness ; 

According  to  the  multitude  of  Thy  tender  mer- 
cies blot  out  my  transgressions. 

Wash  me  thoroughly  from  mine  iniquity. 

And  cleanse  me  from  my  sin. 

Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God: 

And  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me. 

Cast  me  not  away  from  Thy  presence; 

And  take  not  Thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me. 

The  Apostles'  Creed 

The  Apostles'  Creed  recited  by  all 
the  people  while  standing  is  of  common 
use.  In  confession  a  man  must  stand 
alone,  but  in  the  Creed  he  stands  with 
every  believer  in  the  Christian  religion. 
There  has  been  some  discussion  as  to 
where  the  Creed  may  be  most  helpfully 
used  in  the  service  of  worship.  Calvin 
put  it  in  his  Liturgy  at  the  close  of  the 
worship.  If  we  are  to  think  of  the  cumu- 
lative effect  of  worship  on  a  congregation 
this  would  be  the  proper  place.  It  is 
being  swept  on  from  penitence  to  con- 
fession, and  then  to  confidence:  it  is 
190 


ORDER  OF  SERVICE 

going  from  prayer  to  praise  and  from  a 
communion  to  a  climax  in  the  Creed  of 
the  apostles  and  elders,  and  all  who 
have  found  favor  with  God.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Creed  is  likely  considered 
as  the  utterance  on  the  part  of  each 
worshiper  of  his  own  personal  faith  which 
he  is  addressing  to  God.  It  is  the  latter, 
rather  than  a  proclamation  of  that  faith 
to  God.  If  it  is  considered  then  as  a 
personal  faith  expressed  in  a  communal 
act,  it  may  well  be  placed  at  the  begin- 
ning of  man's  worship  rather  than  at 
the  close. 

Prayer 

In  the  worship  by  prayer  the  minis- 
ter has  his  most  difficult  task.  If  he 
were  only  expected  to  express  his  own 
need  the  task  would  not  be  so  great.  To 
comprehend  and  adequately  express  the 
needs  and  aspirations  of  an  audience  is 
well  nigh  impossible.  His  prayer,  in 
some  form,  must  express  a  confession  of 
sins.  It  may  do  to  think  of  the  inclusive- 
191 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

ness  of  sin  and  let  a  sentence  pass  for 
the  whole  matter  of  confession,  but  the 
difficulty  lies  in  the  fact  that  in  such  a 
prayer  the  individual  will  not  make  con- 
fession. We  confess  in  the  concrete. 
Man  sins  against  God.  He  attempts  to 
live  without  God,  is  ignorant  of  God, 
unfaithful  to  Him.  We  have  not  love 
or  zeal  or  joy,  as  we  know  we  should 
have.  We  are  impatient  and  often  in- 
sincere. We  lack  reverence  as  well  as 
righteousness..  We  have  need  not  only 
to  confess  our  sin  in  the  abstract,  but 
also  our  sins  against  our  fellow-men. 
We  have  been  angry  with  them,  careless 
of  them,  and  indifferent  to  them.  The 
members  of  households  have  not  been 
in  harmony  for  the  week;  parents  have 
not  done  their  duty  with  children,  and 
children  have  forgotten  to  regard  their 
parents.  People  have  been  hurt  in  feeling 
and  in  reputation.  Men  have  not  only 
sinned  by  commission,  but  more  by 
omission.  It  is  not  only  what  we  have 
done,  but  what  we  have  n't  done  that  we 
192 


ORDER  OF  SERVICE 

should  be  reminded  of.  A  congrega- 
tion is  not  to  be  left  to  rest  in  its  indif- 
ference when  it  should  be  led  to  confess 
for  its  idleness.  We  sin  against  the  gos- 
pel, against  our  Christianity  and  the 
Church.  Every  practice  and  privilege  of 
life  puts  us  under  such  obligation  as 
necessitates  a  real  confession  from  us. 
A  man  who  is  most  sensitive  to  Christ 
is  most  serious  in  his  confession. 

The  prayer  of  petition  is  well  nigh 
unlimited  as  applied  to  a  congregation. 
If  a  man  does  lack  in  confession,  he  is 
not  apt  to  be  lacking  in  petition,  if  his 
heart  is  once  opened.  Man  will  respond 
to  the  things  he  is  made  to  feel  he  needs. 
Man  knows  his  need  of  guidance,  but 
the  chances  are  it  will  not  be  a  matter 
of  consideration  in  his  worship  if  he  is 
not  reminded  of  it.  The  Holy  Spirit 
will  be  but  a  term  of  abstraction  to  him 
unless  he  be  led  into  the  presence  of  the 
Holy  One.  The  need  of  help,  faith,  pa- 
tience, and  power  will  be  recognized  as 
a  supreme  need  if  suggested;  but,  per- 
13  193 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

chance,  it  will  not  be  an  item  of  thought 
if  none  bring  it  to  him.  He  hardly  dares 
presume  upon  grace  to  bring  him  cleans- 
ing, and  if  promises  are  not  pleaded  he 
may  well  despair.  To  make  effective 
either  confession  or  petition  it  will  be 
needful  that  promises  of  vital  relation 
shall  be  expressed  in  the  hearing  of  the 
people.  Where  does  man  find  anything 
comparable  to  the  expression  of  confi- 
dence as  given  in  the  psalm?  Man  would 
know  what  the  love  of  God  means,  and 
listens  as  he  is  told: 

Because  he  hath  set  his  love  upon  Me,  there- 
fore will  I  deliver  him: 

I  will  set  him  on  high,  because  he  hath  known 
My  name 

He  shall  call  upon  Me,  and  I  will  answer  him; 

I  will  be  with  him  in  trouble: 

I  will  deliver  him,  and  honor  him. 

With  long  life  will  I  satisfy  him,  ; 

And  show  him  My  salvation. 

Some  prayers  are  so  taken  up  with 
confession  and  petition  there  is  little,  if 
any,  expression  of  adoration  and  thanks- 
194 


ORDER  OF  SERVICE 

giving.  If  a  congregation  can  be  made 
to  feel  a  small  part  of  the  blessings 
which  are  theirs,  and  then  will  enter 
into  the  gratitude  that  is  becoming, 
there  will  be  a  service  of  great  inspira- 
tion. 

The  prayer  of  intercession  is  too  often 
omitted  from  the  services  of  the  Ameri- 
can Churches.  If  we  believe  that  "'The 
powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God,"  we 
will  not  omit  the  prayer  of  intercession 
for  those  in  authority.  The  prayer  for  all 
men  of  all  classes,  of  all  work,  of  all  lands, 
of  all  business,  of  all  worship,  of  all  sor- 
rows, or  of  all  joys,  should  not  be  omitted. 

The  repetition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer 
by  minister  and  people  is  followed  in 
many  Churches.  Often  it  concludes  the 
prayer  of  the  morning,  being  repeated 
audibly  by  the  people.  The  choir  and 
congregation  chanting  the  Lord's  Prayer 
as  a  conclusion  to  the  evening  prayer  is 
often  helpfully  used.  The  more  general 
the  people  join  in  either  reciting  or  sing- 
ing the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  more  certain 
195 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

will  be  the  influence  for  good  upon  the 
entire  worshiping  body.  With  some  of 
the  better  musical  arrangements  there  is 
no  diflBiculty  in  an  audience  taking  its 
part. 

Praise 

The  arrangement  of  hymns  and  an- 
them will  follow  the  usual  order  of  a 
hymn,  at  the  opening  or  at  least  follow- 
ing Scripture  sentences  or  the  prayer  of 
invocation.  A  hymn  precedes  the  ser- 
mon, and  usually  follows.  The  anthem 
will  usually  come  immediately  after  the 
prayer.  As  the  praise  service  has  been 
considered  as  to  its  parts  and  importance, 
the  only  thing  remaining  to  be  said 
is  that  it  shall  have  the  participation 
of  the  whole  audience  whenever  prac- 
ticable. 

Announcements 

The  announcements  in  a  service  of 
public   worship    usually   have    an  effect 
upon  the  worshiper  as  something  incon- 
196 


ORDER  OF  SERVICE 

gruous  to  the  rest  of  the  worship.  The 
work  of  a  Church  should  have  due 
notice,  and  in  many  Churches  there  seems 
to  be  no  way  of  gaining  for  the  work  of 
the  Church  this  pubHcity  other  than  in 
the  announcements  from  the  pulpit. 

Where  a  bulletin  can  be  issued,  the 
public  announcement  can,  in  part,  be  obvi- 
ated. It  is  usually  necessary,  even  where 
a  bulletin  is  in  the  hands  of  the  people,|]to 
either  make  some  additional  announce- 
ments or  emphasize  those  given.  It  is 
not,  however,  necessary  for  any  minister 
to  greatly  extend  the  giving  of  notices, 
as  is  commonly  done.  A  clear  statement, 
and  the  people  should  understand  there 
will  be  little,  if  any,  repetition,  and  they 
will  give  attention.  The  announcement 
of  the  offering  is  given  with  others,  and 
the  offering  should  be  received  at  the 
close  of  the  announcement.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary,  with  the  right  idea  of  the 
offering,  to  expect  the  sermon  shall 
influence  the  giver  or  dispose  him  to 
liberality. 

197 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

The  Sermon 

From  the  opening  voluntary,  through 
each  item  of  worship  to  the  sermon  there 
should  be  a  cumulative  effect  of  worship 
and  devotion  produced  which  should 
have  an  effect  upon  both  preacher  and 
people,  and  at  the  announcement  of  a 
text  there  should  be  the  best  preparation 
for  a  thoughtful  and  prayerful  considera- 
tion of  the  truth  presented. 

Closing  Service 

The  service  after  the  sermon  is  usually 
a  short  prayer  for  a  blessing  upon  the 
message.  In  some  Churches  an  oppor- 
tunity to  unite  with  the  Church  is  given 
after  the  announcement  of  the  closing 
hymn.  The  benediction  to  which  one 
may  listen  in  many  Churches  is  an 
anomaly.  The  Apostolic  Benediction  is 
probably  the  more  common.  One  noted 
minister  would  say,  "Let  us  receive  the 
Apostolic  Benediction."  "The  grace  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of 
198 


ORDER  OF  SERVICE 

God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  be  with  you  all."  Sometimes  the 
Aaronic  Benediction  is  appropriately 
used:  "The  Lord  bless  thee,  and  keep 
thee:  The  Lord  make  His  face  to  shine 
upon  thee,  and  be  gracious  unto  thee: 
The  Lord  lift  up  His  countenance  upon 
thee,  and  give  thee  peace."  Short  bene- 
dictions are:  "Grace  be  to  you,  and 
peace,  from  God  our  Father,  and  from 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  "The  grace  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you  all. 

Amen." 

*     *     ^     * 

As  clear  a  statement  of  the  acceptable 
worship  of  God  as  has  been  left  the 
Churches  is  that  contained  in  the  West- 
minster Confession  of  Faith: 

"I.  The  acceptable  way  of  worshiping  the 
true  God  is  instituted  by  Himself,  and  so  lim- 
ited by  His  own  revealed  will  that  He  may 
not  be  worshiped  according  to  the  imaginations 
and  devices  of  men,  or  the  suggestions  of  Satan, 
under  any  visible  representation,  or  any  other 
way  not  prescribed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
199 


THE  WORSHIPING  CONGREGATION 

"Religious  worship  is  to  be  given  to  God, 
the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost;  and  to  Him 
alone;  not  to  angels,  saints,  or  any  other  crea- 
ture: and,  since  the  Fall,  not  without  a  Media- 
tor; nor  in  the  mediation  of  any  other,  but  in 
Christ  alone. 

"Prayer,  with  Thanksgiving,  being  one 
special  part  of  religious  worship,  is  by  God  re- 
quired of  all  men:  and,  that  it  may  be  accepted, 
it  is  to  be  made  in  the  name  of  the  Son,  by  the 
help  of  His  Spirit,  according  to  His  will  with 
understanding,  reverence,  humility,  fervency, 
faith,  love,  and  perseverance;  and,  if  vocal,  in 
a  known  tongue. 

"The  reading  of  the  Scriptures  with  godly 
fear;  the  sound  preaching,  and  conscionable 
hearing  of  the  Word,  in  obedience  unto  God, 
with  understanding,  faith,  and  reverence;  sing- 
ing of  Psalms  with  grace  in  the  heart;  as  also 
the  due  administration  and  worthy  receiving 
the  sacraments  instituted  by  Christ;  are  all 
parts  of  the  ordinary  religious  worship  of  God." 

"II.  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience, 
and  hath  left  it  free  from  the  doctrines  and 
commandments  of  men  which  are  in  any  thing 
contrary  to  His  Word,  or  beside  it,  in  matters 
of  faith  and  worship." 

"  III.  The  whole  counsel  of  God,  concerning 
all  things  necessary  for  His  own  glory,  man's 

200 


ORDER  OF  SERVICE 

salvation,  faith,  and  life,  is  either  expressly  set 
down  in  Scripture,  or  by  good  and  necessary 
consequence  may  be  deduced  from  Scripture: 
unto  which  nothing  at  any  time  is  to  be  added, 
whether  by  new  revelation  of  the  Spirit,  or  tra- 
ditions of  men.  Nevertheless,  we  acknowledge 
the  inward  illumination  of  the  Spirit  of  God  to 
be  necessary  for  the  saving  understanding  of 
such  things  as  are  revealed  in  the  Word;  and 
that  there  are  some  circumstances  concerning 
the  worship  of  God,  and  government  of  the 
Church,  common  to  human  actions  and  soci- 
eties, which  are  to  be  ordered  by  the  light  of 
nature  and  Christian  prudence,  according  to 
the  general  rules  of  the  Word,  which  are  always 
to  be  observed." 


201 


DATE  DUE 

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''"^•""'- ^""W 

GAYLORD 

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